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What Does It Take To Be a Good Reader?

What Does It Take To Be a Good Reader

At Reading Teacher, we are motivated by a fundamental question: what does it take to be a good reader? The seemingly simple quandary has fostered a considerable amount of controversy; and after a worldwide shake-up in elementary education, it’s increasingly difficult to determine what today’s young readers truly need to become good readers. While reading researchers and teachers continue to debate, it’s clear that a combination of systematic phonics, word recognition, and fostering a love for reading will help youngsters become more confident, competent readers.

What Does It Take To Be a Good Reader

Inevitably, our understanding of what it takes to be a good reader in 2022 is partially hampered by COVID. Nevertheless, we know that systematic phonics exposure is one of the keys to early literacy. At Churchill Primary School, a small school in the Latrobe Valley of Australia, educators share the success of their “purist” phonics-based approach. When Churchill Primary switched from balanced literacy to phonics-based reading instruction in 2018, 31% of its Grade 3 students scored in the bottom two bands in Australia’s National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). In 2021, after three years of systematic synthetic phonics (which focuses on reading out and blending in reading), there were no students in the bottom two reading bands; a remarkable 75% scored in the top three bands, exceeding the state average of 60%. Churchill’s teachers focus heavily on teaching students the 44 sounds, or phonemes, in the English language and the letter combinations that create them: the basis of synthetic phonics. Anecdotal support for phonics - and its role in nurturing lifelong, successful readers - will likely be strengthened by a long-awaited £1m UK-based study of the effectiveness of popular phonics programs. Funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), the trial will assess the results of two systematic, synthetic phonics-based literacy programs used in 25% of UK schools.

Both anecdotal and research-driven support for phonics are instrumental in the development of reading curricula that ultimately foster competent readers. Yet phonics instruction is just one part of becoming a good reader: quality phonics instruction enables word recognition, another pillar of reading competency. In the so-called “4 stages of learning to read", children can recognize almost all letters by the end of kindergarten and navigate various syllables by the end of first grade; they can then recognize common letter patterns by the end of second grade, and become masters of decoding words using phonics by the end of third grade.

Be a Good Reader

Or, at least, that’s the goal: any parent or educator knows that for most children, becoming a good reader cannot be reduced to 4 simple steps. Fundamentally, good readers also enjoy reading - and data rooted in the science of reading support this. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) found that children from disadvantaged backgrounds who habitually read for pleasure still outperform their peers in international assessments. Driven by excitement, good readers are also more likely to pursue a wide range of texts. Educators and parents can help light this internal fire by joining children on their reading journeys, reading together, and using decodable readers and culturally relevant chapter books with thoughtful storylines. Coupled with early instruction in systematic phonics and word recognition, these foundational steps will help youngsters develop into good readers, multi-dynamic students, and thoughtful adults.

Be a Good Reader

Take-Aways:

  • The question of what it takes to be a good reader is complicated, yet essential for educators and researchers to consider as new reading curricula emerge based on the science of reading.
  • A strong foundation in phonics and word recognition, coupled with a simple love for reading, emerge as three critical factors in the profile of a good reader.
  • Given the impacts of COVID and the individuality of each student, educators and parents are encouraged to pursue a wide range of texts, honor the unique interests and experiences of their students, and embark on lifelong reading journeys alongside them.

Start Teaching Reading for Free Now!

Access Level 1’s four interactive stories and the accompanying supplemental resources to teach elementary students how to read. No credit card is needed. Join the 42,635 teachers and students using our reading program.

Benefits of Using Decodable Books in Kindergarten and First Grade

Benefits of Using Decodable Books in Kindergarten and First Grade

Wondering what are decodable books for kindergartners and how they can help children read fluently? We have got you covered!

You may have some knowledge about decodable books, especially if you have a preschooler and first-grader at home. They are extremely valuable for children who are first learning to sound out words.

Before getting into the benefits of using decodable books in kindergarten and first grade, we will first explain how they work.

decodable books

What are Decodable Books?

In order to read fluently, readers have to decode unknown words as they go. Decodable books consist of words that are phonetically decodable. They are the teaching and learning aids that help children make connections between sounds and words.

Decodable books help children practice a particular letter-sound pattern instead of relying on pictures and guessing. These particular books have gained significant attention in education for quite some time now.

They are great for all children. However, they are absolutely essential for children who are starting to learn to read.

 

The phonics-based text that decodable books for first grade contain is usually based around 1-2 phonics skills. Decodable books are progressive. As basic phonic patterns are taught before third grade, decodable books are seen less in third, fourth, and fifth-grade classrooms.

If your child is an emerging reader, there are many teaching programs that you can enroll them in. 337 Decodable Words are learned in the Reading Teacher Program.

Why Should You Use Decodable Books in Kindergarten and First Grade?

decodable books in kindergarten

Decodable books for first grade and kindergartens are important because they help emerging readers practice decoding skills. They help children practice phonics patterns.

Let’s take a look at other benefits of decodable books for preschoolers and first graders:

 

Builds Confidence

Decodable books help emerging readers become confident in their reading abilities. Furthermore, they help them stop depending on others to solve word puzzles for them.

When children apply phonetic skills to connected text, they realize they don’t need to depend on others to help them. This helps them gain confidence and build their interest in reading.

 

Feeling confident is extremely important for struggling readers. If you want your child to be confident and become a better reader, it’s important that you celebrate their success.

 

Builds Neuronal Pathways

The opportunity for repeated practice help readers retain new vocabulary to a greater extent and builds neuronal pathways.

When the brain repeats a single word many times, it strengthens neural pathways and offers the comfort of predictability.

 

Encourages Strong Habits

By gaining the skills to decode unfamiliar words, emerging readers become confident. This discourages bad habits such as guessing words by the picture or based on the first few letters. They also stop skipping over unknown and difficult words and try their best to pronounce and understand the word's meaning.

Helps Taking a Step Towards Fluent Independent Reading

One way to read fluently is to read and reread words. Fluency is identified as one of the 5 pillars of reading, and it’s an outcome of effective decoding. They also help children develop and improve their comprehension skills.

 

A Final Word

There are many free printable decodable books for kindergarten and first grade. Decodable books encourage strong reading habits and help young readers build confidence. They give them the chance to apply phonics skills that they have previously learned.

They create a sense of motivation and achievement in readers and help them develop good decoding habits. However, do keep in mind that they are only meant to be used during a short window when kids are first starting to learn how to read.

Reading Teacher Reviews and Testimonials:

"My 7-year-old twins have ADD and it's difficult to keep them focused. They love to read the stories and then go back and listen again"  Natasha from San Diego

 

Read more reviews about our program here!

Start Teaching Reading for Free Now!

Access Level 1’s four interactive stories and the accompanying supplemental resources to teach elementary students how to read. No credit card is needed. Join the 42,635 teachers and students using our reading program.

Creative (& Pediatrician-Endorsed!) Ways to Combat Pandemic Reading Loss

Creative (& Pediatrician-Endorsed!) Ways to Combat Pandemic Reading Loss

True to our name, one of our main goals at Reading Teacher is to help classroom teachers create a personalized reading curriculum for students grounded in the science of reading. Our toolkit of interactive stories, decodable books, printables, and more represents years of research on reading science and structured literacy, which focuses on both foundational skills such as decoding and higher-level skills such as reading comprehension and writing. While teachers perform much of the heavy lifting in the realm of structured literacy, we also recognize the pivotal role of parents and caregivers in a child’s reading journey. Today, we focus on the small but powerful steps that parents and caregivers can take to improve their student’s reading confidence at home, followed by the latest research on creative ways to support reading progress beyond the classroom and Combat Pandemic Reading Loss.

ways to teach sight words

As some schools continue to navigate virtual or hybrid settings, experts share several pointers for the caregivers of today’s youngest readers. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that caregivers read regularly in front of their children - and better yet, read together before bedtime (goodbye, screens!). Pediatricians also emphasize the power of library cards: we know from previous newsletters that libraries are crucial in our communities, and a free card includes access to both physical and digital reading activities. Parents can even designate a special reading nook, corner, or room at home, creating a cozy and calm space for reading and phonics lessons.

Pandemic Reading Loss

Of course, learning to read is not as simple as cozying up in a nook - as magical as it sounds. When we view the process from the perspective of a kindergartner, we see that reading involves several other essential mechanisms that we don't necessarily think about, such as knowing how to move our eyes on the page or how to use our working memory to link words together in a coherent sentence, says Daphné Bavelier, a professor of Psychology and Educational Sciences. This recognition propelled Italian scientists to design a child-friendly action video game with mini challenges that train different executive functions including working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibition - all of which are essential for both learning to read and continuing to read for pleasure throughout adulthood. The scientists worked with 150 Italian schoolchildren, ages 8 to 12, and found that children who played the action video game significantly improved their reading speed and accuracy after playing the game for six weeks, two hours a week under school supervision. The video game will soon be available entirely at home to complement school lessons, setting the precedent for other video games with a hidden agenda of reading success.

Ways to Combat Pandemic Reading Loss

Such creative explorations of reading science illustrate that the science of reading, which has been popularized in recent years by educational media, does not simply rely on phonics and structured literacy. In addition to these foundational pillars, learning to read - and, in particular, learning to read during a pandemic - is a complex and individualized process, one that calls on a variety of executive functions and caregiver support. In light of this reality, parents and caregivers can find immense value in simple yet powerful at-home strategies, partnered with teachers, games, and lessons that operate from the dynamic body of research known as the science of reading.

Take-Aways:

  • As schools respond to the most recent surge in COVID-19 cases, reading experts have taken to online platforms to share advice for caregivers on how to support their young readers at home.
  • Pediatricians recommend that caregivers model healthy reading behaviors by reading regularly and before bedtime with their children, as well as becoming a regular library patron. Parents can even designate a comfortable and quiet area in the home where their children can complete reading lessons or simply read for pleasure.
  • These recommendations follow current research on the science of reading, which shows the potential for video games and other play-based activities to increase students’ reading speed, accuracy, and overall enjoyment outside of the classroom.

Start Teaching Reading for Free Now!

Access Level 1’s four interactive stories and the accompanying supplemental resources to teach elementary students how to read. No credit card is needed. Join the 42,635 teachers and students using our reading program.

High-Impact Tutors Provide Help and Hope for Reading Teachers

High-Impact Tutors Provide Help and Hope for Reading Teachers - The Role of NC Ed Corps

As some U.S. elementary schools return to virtual learning models in response to the most recent omicron surge, providing high-quality reading instruction continues to be a challenge for many reading teachers. Even prior to the pandemic, classroom reading tutors have been essential to literacy improvement efforts, particularly in districts and states where reading scores are historically low. This week, we highlight the role of North Carolina Education Corps (NC Ed Corps), whose specialized tutors are helping more classrooms make the much-anticipated switch to literacy curricula grounded in the science of reading.

Help and Hope for Reading Teachers

In a quest to better support K-3 students - many of whom have lost reading opportunities during COVID-19 - the NC Ed Corps is an essential force. The program heads a statewide movement to improve teacher education and preparation, which is reflected in recent amendments to the state’s Read to Achieve curriculum. Noting the national shortage of teachers, Ed Corps aims to launch its participants’ careers in public education or public service while eliminating barriers for young readers. Equally notable is NC Ed Corps’ emphasis on the science of reading: although the associated body of research is increasingly accepted, many collegiate education programs neglect to teach the basics of reading science to future educators. In many ways, NC Ed Corps fills the gap between what’s necessary and what’s currently possible, expanding the abilities of individual teachers to provide more personalized and holistic instruction to early readers while preparing and empowering future educators.

Hope for Reading Teachers

As we continue to monitor its long-term outcomes, the NC Ed Corps model is important to consider if other states choose to adopt similarly innovative programs. Currently, Ed Corps members work at least part-time as reading tutors, mentors, and, inevitably, contact tracers. In the era of COVID-19, the program focuses on high-impact and early-grades literacy education to accelerate learning recovery and foster strong relationships between students and educators. So far, 23 districts in North Carolina have hired NC Ed Corps members, who commit to nine months at an assigned school and meet groups of one to three students, 3 times a week, for at least 30 minutes per session. The program’s members include community college and university students as well as recent graduates and even retirees, all of whom are passionate about increasing access to high-quality reading education while serving as mentors for young readers.

 

Passionate and innovative reading tutors continue to be an invaluable asset as schools shift and respond to ever-changing public health guidelines. Pairing tutors with well-trained teachers is integral for both the reading success and socioemotional health of students: beyond fundamental reading skills, many children are struggling to form and maintain foundational connections with their teachers and peers, and tutors help to bridge these social gaps. As more U.S. schools enlist tutors and enroll teachers in science-of-reading training programs such as LETRS, educational leaders demonstrate hope and knowledge to help us navigate public health challenges, Zoom reading classrooms, and beyond.

fun literacy games

Take-Aways:

  • As classrooms continue to respond to the challenges of the pandemic, reading tutors can have a tremendous impact in early reading classrooms.
  • The North Carolina Education Corps program offers a successful model of high-impact tutoring: the program strives to remove barriers to literacy while training young educators in the science of reading.
  • Well-trained tutors can help classrooms recover learning lost during virtual instruction and extend the reach of homeroom teachers by serving as mentors for young students.

Start Teaching Reading for Free Now!

Access Level 1’s four interactive stories and the accompanying supplemental resources to teach elementary students how to read. No credit card is needed. Join the 42,635 teachers and students using our reading program.

One Parent’s Story Shows the Personal Power of Structured Literacy

One Parent’s Story Shows the Personal Power of Structured Literacy

While personal anecdotes should be considered carefully, what is most personal is often most universal. A story shared by New Zealand education reporter Catherine Woulfe supports this sentiment: last spring, Woulfe wrote about her son’s reading journey, which was profoundly shaped by Woulfe’s discovery of structured literacy. This week, we share Woulfe’s reflection on the importance of structured literacy and decodable texts for her son, and how her experience aligns with larger efforts to provide more decodable readers and evidence-based structured literacy to young readers.

power of Structured Literacy

Reflecting on her son’s literacy development, Woulfe wrote that because her son, Ben, excelled in math and took up talking “hard and fast,” she assumed he would become a competent reader by simply being near quality books, caring teachers, and engaged parents. Yet while Ben memorized a staggering amount of reading material and easily deciphered words through pictures, it quickly became apparent that he was reciting rather than reading. Writing was similarly challenging: when Woulfe wrote words for Ben to copy, Ben began to “mirror,” or write every letter the wrong way around. Although mirroring is common among young readers, Woulfe worried that it signaled dyslexia.

 

Reassurances from Ben’s teachers were backed by their faith in Te Whāriki’, New Zealand’s Early Childhood Education (ECE) curriculum that emphasizes child empowerment and bicultural learning. While these tenets are crucial for young learners, the key to Ben’s reading breakthrough was Woulfe’s discovery of structured literacy on Te Kete Ipurangi, the New Zealand government’s education resource site for teachers. Designed to provide evidence-based programs for students with dyslexia, the webpage cites the importance of systematic decoding strategies, decodable texts, and clear explanations of reading concepts for young readers struggling with dyslexia and/or other reading challenges.

 

For Ben, clarity was key – but so was Woulfe’s self-described “privilege toolkit” of tutoring, networks, and the parental knowledge to recognize and respond to a problem with their child’s literacy education. Woulfe acknowledges that many parents lack the time and resources to solicit the structured literacy books, tutoring specialists, and decodable texts that boosted Ben from rote memorizer to voracious reader.

Power of Structured Literacy

Since Woulfe published her reflections, however, governmental entities in New Zealand and elsewhere have responded to the call for more decodable books. In January 2021, the NZ Ministry of Education announced that “Ready to Read” Phonics Plus decodable readers would be distributed to all elementary schools in early 2021. In the U.S., the roll-out of decodable texts is less widespread, but federal pandemic relief funding has reignited the push toward structured literacy in some school districts: in Fulton County, Georgia, the school board just approved over $2 million in federal pandemic relief dollars to purchase family literacy boxes, which will each contain 10 decodable readers and be distributed twice a month to 3,300 to pre-K through second grade readers across 11 schools. Similarly, the Essex Elementary School Foundation in Connecticut just provided an $8,600 grant for the 2021–2022 school year for the purchase of Geodes Decodable Texts for K-2 instruction, which will reinforce the phonics and decoding skills taught by the school’s reading program.

 

Clearly, sufficient funds are necessary to instill structured literacy and distribute decodables at a large scale. Even so, reflections by Woulfe and others leave us hopeful that lifelong literacy can start at the personal level, building from conscious teachers, parents, and school boards to incite change at higher levels.

Take-Aways:

  • Personal reflections from parents and teachers can be helpful to understand the individual impact of structured literacy education, as seen in the story of Catherine Woulfe and her young son, Ben.
  • Key to Ben’s reading progress was Woulfe’s discovery of structured literacy and its emphasis on phonics, decodable texts, and clearly explained reading concepts, all of which helped Ben become a confident and enthusiastic reader.
  • Sufficient regional and/or federal funds are needed to provide decodable readers to students, as demonstrated by recent distributions of decodable books in New Zealand, Fulton County in Georgia, and Essex Elementary in Connecticut.

Start Teaching Reading for Free Now!

Access Level 1’s four interactive stories and the accompanying supplemental resources to teach elementary students how to read. No credit card is needed. Join the 42,635 teachers and students using our reading program.

Technology Is Here to Stay: Utilizing Tech Tools to Promote Students’ Literacy

Technology is Here to Stay: Utilizing Tech Tools to Promote Students’ Literacy

Promote Students’ Literacy

These days, kindergartners with missing teeth and basic reading skills can often navigate a Google Document or “Zoom Room” as well as the average adult. After an extended period of virtual education, these students are more well-versed in and reliant on digital tools, allowing them to communicate with their teachers and peers, organize assignments, and even learn the fundamentals of reading and writing. Educational technology is unlikely to disappear at any point in the near future: if anything, it will continue to evolve in response to the needs of teachers, students, and caregivers. Considering this reality, educators are wise to consider the latest research on educational technology and thoughtfully implement digital elements into their in-person classrooms to support students’ reading and overall confidence.

 

Almost unanimously, researchers agree that too much tech is unhealthy, particularly for our youngest and most impressionable generation. Yet in a world where tech is here to stay, educators are challenged to incorporate digital elements that will increase students’ literacy skills. Tools like text-to-speech assistive technology, audiobooks, and online phonics lessons like our own are essential for literacy education at home or in hybrid learning environments. To enhance literacy in both contexts, Dr. Megan Allen, the founder and chief learning curator at The Community Classroom, also recommends the recording function on a tablet or smartphone, which can be used for audio-journaling, peer and teacher feedback, and as a way for students to reflect on their own reading fluency. Pixar short films, writes Dr. Allen, can even be used as comprehension exercises that encourage students to make inferences and predictions, discuss story elements, think critically about character feelings, or look at cause and effect relationships. Common among these strategies is an underlying recognition of the pervasiveness of technology, coupled with an educator’s decision to turn tech on its head and creatively enhance a young student’s reading journey.

Tools to Promote Students’ Literacy

Equipped with a basic understanding of technology, younger students can become reading masters and digital whizzes with the guidance of innovative teachers. This is especially true in today’s classroom, where the pandemic has accelerated our capabilities with technology at all ages. Larry Ferlazzo, an English and social studies teacher, affirms this new reality in a recent reflection on Google Docs. The shareable online documents allow Ferlazzo to “drop into” a student group’s work during class and help make writing, comprehension, and research better than it would have been otherwise. For older students with higher-level reading comprehension and writing skills, a basic technology such as Google Docs can be transformed into a collaborative, creative, and student-powered platform.

 

For both new readers and older students, educators and tech creators are increasingly aware of the potential of smartphone applications to augment literacy education. One of the newest literacy apps, WordSmart, taps into the human passion for stories and our aptitude for phonics to help students develop reading skills. WordSmart takes readers on an interactive adventure with the characters Tama and Tracey and tells stories about how different letters got their sounds (for example, ‘A’ is all about apples and ants). Then, readers play games where they have to match the shape of the letters to the corresponding sounds. This “gamification” of reading engages children in both the complexity and magic of reading, and the app also offers kids ways to promote self-control or manage their emotions through breathing, tracing exercises, and other mindfulness techniques. The app’s founder and former teacher, Paul Blackman, wants to offer a digital tool that is conscious of children’s diverse educational needs and socioeconomic backgrounds, and partnered with reading scientists from the Sweden-based Karolinska Institute to assess app users’ language fluency and modify their experiences of the app based on literacy levels.

 

From science-based apps to old-fashioned audiobooks, technology has much to offer to young readers, their educators, and their caregivers. With our newfound appreciation for in-person education, teachers can strategically implement technology into their literacy curricula to excite students, assist their caregivers, and nurture lifelong readers in a tech-based world.

Take-Aways:

  • Both students and educators have significantly improved their technology skills since the beginning of the pandemic.
  • Educators can utilize students’ technological proficiency to improve their literacy skills, both in and out of the classroom.
  • Teachers and parents have access to a variety of technological tools, including audiobooks, apps, and even Pixar short films, to challenge young readers and promote higher-level comprehension and writing in older students.
  • Noting the array of backgrounds and abilities in a classroom, teachers are encouraged to implement digital tools and design curricula that adapt to their student's unique needs.

Start Teaching Reading for Free Now!

Access Level 1’s four interactive stories and the accompanying supplemental resources to teach elementary students how to read. No credit card is needed. Join the 42,635 teachers and students using our reading program.

Science at Storytime: Recent Curriculum Changes Reflect the Importance of Reading Science

Science at Storytime: Recent Curriculum Changes - Science of Reading Programs

After decades of debate, the reading education industry is finally encouraging more explicit and systematic phonics instruction: a change instigated by the release of a 2018 APM report and documentary series by Emily Hanford, which illuminate the long-term literacy struggles among students receiving balanced literacy instruction. While these moves are encouraging, the actual implementation of psychology-based, data-driven curricula may be daunting for new and seasoned educators alike. Today, we unpack the myriad challenges - and benefits - of revising reading curricula to reflect the findings of reading science.

 

According to a comprehensive review of today’s most popular literacy materials by Education Week, educators are increasingly focused on decoding: how early readers convert words on a page into spoken language. Based on evidence from cognitive psychology and neuroscience, skilled readers focus on letters in the words to identify what words say, as opposed to pulling from pictures or sentence flow to predict a word. While advocates of the structured literacy classroom, which emphasizes the scientific importance of decoding, acknowledge that good readers attend to story structure and syntax, these readers also need to be able to decode words without pictorial or syntax cues.

Reflect the Importance of Reading Science

Contrary to what the sudden tide of science-based curriculum “rewrites” may suggest, the research driving these changes is not new. If anything, the number of students falling behind in reading in the wake of the pandemic is revealing the inadequacy of literacy education in a striking number of elementary classrooms. Although its principles often contradict or simply disregard the science, balanced literacy remains deeply embedded in early reading instruction. Many programs and teacher guides encourage students to utilize a strategy known as three-cueing or MSV: Meaning, Structure, and Visual. Using this strategy, students often over-rely on a story’s visuals and/or sentence structure, leaving them guessing at words in the present; and in the long-term, unable to read deeply and with genuine enjoyment.

 

Recent curriculum changes are heralded by some of the most prominent names in the field, including Lucy Calkins, creator of the Units of Study for Teaching program used by about 16 percent of elementary and special education teachers. These lessons will incorporate more explicit phonics instructions and remove questions that prompt students to use pictures or context clues for word identification. Similar changes have been made in The Reading Strategies Book, a popular resource written by Jennifer Serravello. In the updated edition, Serravello cites sources from developmental psychology and cognitive science, supporting the dominant thesis that phonics instruction produces skilled readers through orthographic mapping. By "gluing” spelling and sound together in memory, Serravello writes, children reach a point of fluency at which words can be retrieved automatically.

Reading Science

Collectively, these revisions suggest a newfound embrace of reading science. Yet some industry leaders are concerned that curriculum overhauls will yield only surface-level change. Mark Seidenberg, a cognitive scientist and psycholinguist, worries that revisions may be enough to satisfy new laws concerning reading science and phonics instruction, but that it will be difficult to properly support the teachers and schools tasked with implementing these changes. To truly do better for our students, reading research must be both accessible and actionable for teachers and schools at large. Jan Burkins and Kari Yates, authors of Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom (2021), emphasize the importance of accessibility and human energy in the re-balanced literacy classroom. Above all, while teachers should have access to reading science, we must also recognize the limited time, energy, and school-based resources among educators and parents and distribute our efforts accordingly.

 

The work ahead of us is collaborative, spanning from the level of individuals, to schools, to large-scale organizations such as Calkins’ think tank, Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. Because understanding the research is different from applying it, translational work between cognitive psychologists and educators will underpin a practical application of reading science. The urgency of this work is heightened in the wake of COVID-19 when many schools are facing major reading gaps, in addition to the challenging personal circumstances present in any classroom. Teachers are asked to attend to these needs in addition to accessing and effectively applying the latest research on reading science. Consequently, simply stamping a “science of reading” seal on a resource and putting it in teachers’ hands doesn’t necessarily offer the knowledge, understanding, or time they need to change their instruction, says early literacy expert Wiley Blevins. By offering cross-disciplinary training for reading teachers, the conversation about reading practices can lead to a place of transparency among teachers, scientists, and curriculum writers - and, most importantly, a place of achievement and enrichment for young readers.

Importance of Reading Science

Take-Aways:

  • Within the last year, the reading education industry has shifted toward more science-based literacy instruction with an emphasis on phonics and decoding.
  • Notable authors and educators in reading science have revised their curricula to reflect this change in perspective, including Lucy Calkins of the popular Units of Study curriculum and Jennifer Serravello, author of The Reading Strategies Book.
  • Phonemic awareness and science-backed strategies are essential to students’ long-term reading success, but implementation of these curricula changes may be challenging due to constraints on time, energy, and other resources.
  • With collaborative work between educators, schools, psychologists, and other researchers in the field, we will continue to progress toward more science-driven, structured, and phonics-based literacy programs.

Start Teaching Reading for Free Now!

Access Level 1’s four interactive stories and the accompanying supplemental resources to teach elementary students how to read. No credit card is needed. Join the 42,635 teachers and students using our reading program.

Picking up the Book After Virtual Literacy Instruction: The Current Challenges of Literacy Instruction in the Multi-Reading Level Classroom

Picking up the Book After Virtual Literacy Instruction: The Current Challenges of Literacy Instruction in the Multi-Reading Level Classroom

After an extended period of virtual literacy instruction, it can be challenging to find appropriate resources and tailored reading plans that transition smoothly from one lesson to the next, especially in a classroom reading at a variety of levels. In today’s newsletter, we present a classroom case study and illuminate the current challenges of literacy instruction in a multi-reading level classroom, before reviewing strategies that can help schools advance young students reading at different levels.

Literacy Instruction in the Multi-Reading Level Classroom

Heather Miller, a first grade teacher at Doss Elementary in Austin, TX, is one of many teachers who radically shifted their reading instruction upon returning to the in-person classroom. This fall, Miller had to backtrack from writing full sentences with her first graders to writing single letters. While Miller’s students are struggling to read at their grade level, they are also falling short of social and developmental milestones: she sometimes stops class to mediate disagreements, or to assist students whose fine motor skills were delayed by prolonged virtual instruction. “My kids are so spread out in their needs,” she told the Hechinger Report; after virtual instruction, “there’s so much to teach, and somehow there’s not enough time.”  Miller’s classroom is one of many that are experiencing the long-term impact of virtual instruction during the pandemic. A recent report by Amplify Education Inc., which creates reading curriculum, assessments, and interventions, found that children in first and second grade experienced dramatic drops in reading level scores compared with those in previous years. Learning loss is exacerbated among low-income, Black, and Latinx students compared to their white peers, according to data analyzed by McKinsey & Company.

 

In consideration of these barriers, students can still have a positive literacy education with thoughtfully applied strategies from teachers, parents, school psychologists, and other supportive adults. In her first grade classroom, Miller divides her students into several small groups, tailoring activities typically used by younger grades to help students reading at the lowest level. For two hours a day, she works intensively with this group; for other students, she supplies various reading “tools”, such as hollow phones that encourage students to listen to themselves read and reinforce connections between sounds and written words. Miller is fortunate to work among a team of adults working to get elementary readers back on track: her school has a strong team of literacy interventionists who provide extra reading help throughout the day, as well as a first grade teacher focus group where tips and strategies are regularly exchanged. Miller and other early elementary educators maintain a fine balance between stretching their students while not pushing too hard with remediation efforts.

Multi-Reading Level Classroom

Although the pandemic has created many issues, it has also propelled educators and legislators to respond to long-standing deficits in students’ reading performance, as evidenced by major curriculum shifts, state-funded training for educators in the science of reading, and literacy nonprofits. Team Read, a free program that pairs trained teen reading coaches with second and third graders, is one example of a locally-minded nonprofit working to close reading gaps with a unique cross-age model. Local and regional efforts, coupled with the ingenuity of individual teachers like Miller, ultimately provide hope that young readers will bounce back. The case study at Doss Elementary illustrates the value of splitting a classroom into skills-based rotation groups and participating in teacher focus groups, as well as creating more time and space for reading beyond the classroom. Perhaps now more than ever, reading is a science as well as an issue of accessibility, requiring a creative and collaborative array of teachers, legislators, and nonprofits to support classrooms reading at multiple skill levels.

Take-Aways:

  • Prolonged virtual literacy instruction has resulted in many elementary classrooms reading at different skill levels, creating instructional challenges for teachers.
  • Heather Miller, a first grade teacher at Doss Elementary in Austin, TX, is one of many educators who have tailored their curriculum to support the varied needs of individual students in their classrooms.
  • Innovative strategies employed by Miller and other educators, funding for teacher training in the science of reading, and support from literacy specialists and nonprofits are essential to the advancement of young readers returning to in-person instruction.

Start Teaching Reading for Free Now!

Access Level 1’s four interactive stories and the accompanying supplemental resources to teach elementary students how to read. No credit card is needed. Join the 42,635 teachers and students using our reading program.

Saying “Goodbye” to Bin Learning: New Cross-Curricular Reading Program Takes an Equity-Minded Approach

Saying “Goodbye” to Bin Learning: New Cross-Curricular Reading Program

As part of ongoing efforts to reshape elementary instruction based on the science of reading, more schools are adopting curricula that support a whole-child and equity-minded approach. In this week’s newsletter, we dive into the science of cross-curricular reading education, focusing on the latest curriculum changes at Nebraska public schools through an equity lens.

 

In a December op-ed, psychology researchers wrote on the value of a whole-child approach to reading, wherein teachers stop teaching in “bins” – for instance, reading from 10:15-10:45 a.m. – and instead create lessons that honor the overlap between math and reading skills. Based on recent psychology research, early language ability is the single best predictor of both reading and math scores, and reading and math abilities depend on the same broad network of cognitive skills: memory, attention (executive function), language, and general knowledge. Teachers can design integrated lessons that draw from a range of topics in reading, math, and social skills, and that cater to a child’s or classroom’s unique interests: whether it’s favorite recipes, dinosaurs, or big cats. According to the authors, the best integrative lessons encourage peer collaboration and allow students to build on ideas from previous classes; they are active, engaging, meaningful to students’ lives, and, above all, joyful.

New Cross-Curricular Reading Program Takes an Equity-Minded Approach

Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), the new elementary reading and English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum at Lincoln Public Schools in Nebraska, models this integrative and cross-curricular approach to literacy. Amplify CKLA lessons, which will be officially implemented in the 2023-24 school year after piloting next year in select schools, are based on the vast, interdisciplinary body of research known as the science of reading. The K-2 portion of the curriculum is divided into two strands: foundational skills such as phonics and position words, and a knowledge component that pushes students to expand their knowledge and vocabulary in a specific, equity-conscious topic.

 

Under the new curriculum, elementary schoolers grades K-5 will draw connections between social studies, history and science, said Lisa Oltman, the district’s K-6 language arts curriculum specialist. Among many other topics, kindergartners will learn about indigenous cultures, nursery rhymes, and fables; second graders will read Greek myths and study slavery and the Civil War, and fifth grade students will read Don Quixote and learn about the Renaissance. High-quality reading material will help students dive into these topics, and culturally relevant topics such as climate change will be threaded throughout grade levels to help students draw connections as they progress through school.

Reading Program Takes an Equity-Minded Approach

Driven by the belief that word recognition and language comprehension ultimately lead to reading comprehension, Amplify CKLA combines reading and writing under one curriculum, with a special emphasis on narrative, opinion writing, research, and discussion. Says Oltman: "We have a variety of students, lots of students with lots of different backgrounds, and so one thing that was important to us was that students get to see themselves, but they also get to learn about others through this curriculum.”

 

To formally implement Amplify CKLA, 80 LPS staff members participated in an elementary reading committee to study the science of reading and learn the CKLA materials. It has been a lengthy and expensive process, but educators believe it is a necessary investment to support all students, regardless of reading ability or socioeconomic background. By investing in equitable education and faculty training on the science of reading, school districts ultimately service both students and teachers, whose understanding of reading science will empower them to build lessons that are cross-curricular, culturally relevant, and meaningful for students.

Reading Program

Take-Aways:

  • Psychology researchers and educational leaders continue to voice the value of teaching literacy through a cross-curricular and equity-minded lens, contrary to the traditional “binning” of reading, math, and other subjects.
  • This research adds to our growing understanding of the science of reading, which serves as the foundation for the Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) curriculum that will soon replace current literacy education in the Lincoln Public School District, Nebraska.
  • Amplify CKLA encourages students to make connections across subjects and exposes them to a wide array of topics, cultures, and narratives, while training teachers to integrate subjects and design lessons based on student’s developmental needs and unique interests.

Start Teaching Reading for Free Now!

Access Level 1’s four interactive stories and the accompanying supplemental resources to teach elementary students how to read. No credit card is needed. Join the 42,635 teachers and students using our reading program.

Everything You Need to Know About Sight Words

Everything You Need to Know About Sight Words

sight words

When kids start learning to read, it’s important for them to practice reading sight words. Sight words are the most frequently used words that appear on every page of the textbook many times. Sight words include words like the, who, like, he, at, but, there, etc.

These terms appear so frequently in textbooks that young readers no longer have to try to sound them out. Because they are used so often, teachers make sure that novice readers are able to recognize and understand them as soon as they see them.

 

Learn More About Sight Words

Sight words are usually small because of which they are easily recognized. However, these are the words that can’t be sounded out. Sight words are classified into two categories, including frequently used words like it, will, at, and non-phonetic words like talk and the that can’t be sounded out.

For example, if you try sounding out the words “the” and “there,” you’ll understand that the spelling of these words is not straightforward in regards to how they sound out. Another reason it is encouraged for young readers to memorize sight words is that words like the, or, and cannot be easily represented by pictures.

 

In other words, some sight words do not follow the typical letter-sound correspondences. Therefore, children are encouraged to memorize these words by sight because they are commonly used and not always straightforward to sound out.

Children are introduced to sight words when they enter kindergarten. The number of sight words taught to kindergartners varies by the curriculum. However,  they are taught between 100 to 300 words, with the first 100 being the most common words used in children’s textbooks.

 

Why It Is Important for Children to Recognize and Memorize Sight Words

Most sight words comprise words found on Dolch and Fry’s list. The revised Dolch list carries 220 words, which are also known as Dolch words. On the other hand, Fry’s sight word list comprises 300 words that are also known as Fry words.

Most of us won’t probably remember learning words like “the, there, at, our, this, that,” but for many young readers, they can be challenging to learn. Sight words are important to memorize because they build speed and frequency.

It is important for children to recognize and understand sight words because they promote comprehension and provide readers with clues to the context of the text. When children understand and are familiar with sight words, they are able to understand the meaning of sentences.

Sight words not only promote reading fluently but are also considered important because they help children write more efficiently too. In other words, sight words are there to prepare them for their reading journey.

 

What are Sight Word Books?

Sight word books are a great place for children to start looking for sight words. There are many sight word books for kindergartners that can help them memorize, recognize, and understand sight words. Many sight word books carry fun illustrations and include characters and interesting storylines.

Sight words are confidence boosters that can help children read the text more confidently and fluently. You might think that these words are so common that your child might not need sight word books to be able to memorize and recognize them. However, as many sight words defy standard phonetic convention, meaning they can’t be sounded out, it becomes difficult for children to build deeper connections with them.

 

A few good sight word books for kindergartners include:

  • The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Suess
  • Richard Scarry’s Best Word Book Ever
  • I’ll Teach My Dog 100 Words by Michael Frith, illustrated by P.D. Eastman
  • My Sight Words Workbook: 101 High-Frequency Words
  • 180 Days of Practice- Kindergarten Workbook Set
  • Write-and-Learn Sight Word Practice Pages
  • My 100 Must Know Learn to Write Sight Words

While introducing your child to sight words, it’s important not to introduce two sight words at the same time that are similar, for example, “well” and “will” and “no” and “on.”

Start Teaching Reading for Free Now!

Access Level 1’s four interactive stories and the accompanying supplemental resources to teach elementary students how to read. No credit card is needed. Join the 42,635 teachers and students using our reading program.