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Scope and Sequence Unit 1

Scope and Sequence Unit 1

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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.

The image below demonstrates where new phonemes, new words, and special (high frequency) words are introduced. These are only the words and sounds introduced in Unit 1.

Scope and Sequence Unit 1

We strongly recommend the program be read in order because the sounds and words in each book build upon those learned in previous books. It is important that students master each book before moving on to the next book.

If you are looking for previous units scope & sequence you can find them below

 

Scope and Sequence Unit 2

Scope and Sequence Unit 3

Exciting ways to learn sight words for Elementary Students!

Exciting ways to learn sight words for Elementary Students!

Are you wondering how to learn sight words in a fun and interesting way? Some creative and low-preparation activities assist a child in learning sight words promptly.

What are sight words?

Sight words are also called high-frequency words. They encourage young learners to memorize by viewing them. This helps in recognizing them in prints without using any strategies to decode the new words. Some of the examples of sight words are; has, have, was, and, the, are, and the list goes on.

 

Over 75% of the children’s textbooks are comprised of sight words.

 

Fun ways to learn sight words:

To aid you in teaching sight words in fun ways, we have compiled a list of activities. We have generated plenty of ideas and thoughts. It helps in releasing energy with activities and games in tons of outdoor and hands-on activities.

 

Putting flashcards on a day-to-day basis helps little learners to develop these skills more quickly. Besides, we would suggest you make it engaging with fun and exciting activities for young readers. Hand-on sight words accompanied by activities and games can draw the attention of preschoolers. It also helps them to learn at a faster pace.

 

Moreover, incorporate the sight words in daily life. Make it part of your play that develops the interest of the children in learning. It will result in mastering the list a little faster.

 

Initiate with sight words as early as possible:

It is essential to learn sight words in the early years of homeschooling and schooling. Knowing the sight words means a strong grip and command over the recognition of words. It makes reading and memorizing much easier.  It assists young learners to become affluent readers and improve their comprehension.

 

Sight words may require a lot of effort, time, and energy. By taking an early initiative will ease out the burden. According to research, a child who starts learning sight words at an early age may learn effortlessly and grasp more words due to exposure to extensive reading.

 

You can begin with two letter sight words like no, on, in, is, it, too, an, am, or, of, and others. This makes it easier for beginners to recognize, learn and develop the skills. Once you have mastered two-letter words, you can move on to three or more letter words to add up to the vocabulary.

 

It is never too early, to begin with, sight words. It is beneficial to start at a tender age so that it helps in language booster and aids them with reading skills. This is one of the most natural ways to introduce your children to an array of sight words. Simple flashcards for your child also bring a lot of improvement.

 

Continuous practice makes a lot of difference:

Repeat exposure to the sight words will do the trick for you. When you repeatedly bring into the notice the sight words, it makes a lot of difference.  Sight words like I, as, at, she, he, do, and, up, so, by, go, and some of the words which keep on repeating time and again. Emphasizing them religiously encourages your child to chime in.

 

Sight words make up the major portion of the text. Moreover, reading out the text loudly can make a lot of a difference.

 

Pool in all the senses of a child:

Using all the senses in the activities makes learning more interesting and fun-filled. Children grab new words more quickly. By using multi-senses for it will help in retaining the sight words for a longer time.

 

Therefore, the use of pipe cleaner to magnetic letters to construct sight words is quite beneficial.

 

Activity-based learning:

Let them explore sight words in newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, and brochures. It will develop their skill in searching for more and more sight words along with the basic understanding of the sight words.

 

Develop a habit in the child for reading the signboards on the streets, roads, and at utility stores. It assists in building a robust foundation for the child.

 

Illustrations on the board, spelling drillings, or typing on the keyboard can cement their learning of the words.

 

Play along with the sight words:

A game makes the learning of sight words more entertaining for a child. The play times like jumping games along with the sight words will result in wonders. Try hopscotch to make them learn while playing.

 

Final words:

Making your preschooler’s journey into reading is a fun yet challenging adventure to begin with. Hence, it is vital to make tiny steps towards introducing new words to them. Most importantly, it is vital to stay positive with learners.  Try to mix and match the activities to engage and excite them with the learning process.

 

Parents and teachers are the biggest cheerleaders of a child. Therefore, appreciate them for the little efforts they are making to learn. It makes them feel excited and motivated to learn more and more. Readingteacher.com would love you help you with creative ideas and innovative suggestions.

Below is a link to a few of our favorite sight words worksheets!

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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.

Decodable Books: Do They Actually Work?

Decodable Books: Do They Actually Work?

how decodable books work

Learning to read comes naturally to some children; they seem to just get it without needing to understand and learn the phonic codes that make reading sensible. For some, on the other hand, learning to read isn’t always that simple.

 

When it comes to reading, several children need a systematic approach in teaching in order to acquire this skill incrementally. As they begin learning to read, decodable books prove to be an integral part of the entire learning process.

 

At this point, some of you are probably asking a pretty important question: “What are decodable books?” Don’t worry – in this blog post, we’ll answer all your concerns regarding decodable books and reveal if they actually work or not.

What we’ll cover:

  • What are decodable books?
  • How do decodable readers work?
  • Purpose of decodable books
  • Why are decodable readers important?
  • Do decodable readers work?

What Are Decodable Readers?

Decodable books or decodable readers are texts that only contain specific phonics patterns or codes, which the student has already learned. These books usually involve high-frequency words.

How Do Decodable Readers Work?

Decodable readers are designed particularly to align with precise, systematic phonic instruction. They’re simple stories formed using exclusive terms that are phonetically decodable, using letter patterns that students have already learned in phonics classes.

 

For example, a student at the initial learning stages of reading who only knows short vowel sounds can decipher simple terms like bed, pig, and hat; however, he/she will not be able to decode words like owl and see.

 

On the other hand, a student at a greater reading level who already knows multi-letter phonograms like OA and AI will be able to decode more complex terms like goat and snail.

 

Moreover, Education Week reveals that decodable books have no storyline; they’re entirely nonsensical whether you begin on the first page or the last page, and even if you read backwards.

Purpose of Decodable Books

The purpose of decodable readers is to enable students to practice the phonic patterns and codes their teacher is teaching them. So far, they’ve proved to offer an outstanding opportunity for in-context practice. Many experts believe that students should practice phonics words and patterns in isolation as well as in the context of writing and reading.

 

Additionally, these books are used only for short periods to help students develop and improve decoding skills. Once these are in place, students move on to reading varied and wonderfully rich children’s literature.

 

Note: When searching for decodable books for kindergarten or 1st grade, know that the word ‘decodable readers’ is often used improperly, especially when it indicates books in which only half the terms are decodable. This can be extremely frustrating for many children and may not even support good reading habits. Therefore, keep in mind that good decodable readers – like the ones provided in Reading Teacher programs – are fully decodable and allow your students to read each word.

Why Are Decodable Readers Important? 

Apart from effectively teaching phonics skills, there are some other ways decodable books help students and teachers. Here are some of them:

 

  • Children learning to read can read decodable books independently
  • Decodable readers encourage students to practice their decoding skills rather than merely relying on images and guessing.
  • These books establish and foster a self-reliant approach among beginning stage readers.
  • With decodable books, learners experience immediate success and acquire interest, enthusiasm, and confidence for reading.
  • These books focus on a target grapheme (spelling) and phoneme (sound).
  • Decodable readers aid successful reading of children’s literature.

Do Decodable Readers Work? 

Yes, it is true that decodable readers effectively teach phonics skills to struggling students, but they do not teach them some of the other vital decoding skills of vocabulary and grammar.

Closing Note

A decodable reader is an excellent tool if you intend to teach and improve the reading skills of young learners. They will not only make learning how to read easy and effective but also fun.

 

Click here to see our range of decodable books for kindergarteners and 1st graders or explore other Reading Teacher programs that can make reading lessons fun and successful. You can access interactive videos, quizzes, stories, and printable books that have set over 40,000 students on a straight road to academic achievement through our platform.

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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.

Wordle Illuminates the Power of Play in Phonics Instruction

Wordle Illuminates the Power of Play in Phonics Instruction

Sometimes, all we need is a simple reminder to play. The popular phonics game Wordle, recently acquired by the New York Times, now offers a daily opportunity to play: with phonics, that is. Each day, players have six chances to guess a random 5-letter word. After each attempt, the letters guessed correctly turn green, while letters that are in the word but in the wrong place are highlighted yellow; letters not in the word at all turn gray. In some elementary classrooms, this simple guessing game now functions as a snack-size activity for elementary schoolers. Drawing from the popularity of Wordle, this week’s newsletter explores the power of play to improve reading, writing, and spelling skills.

Power of Play in Phonics Instruction

In an EdWeek teacher interview, Kim Palcic, a third grade teacher in Kansas, and Maureen Elliot, a fourth grade teacher in New York, both present Wordle as a teaching tool to support engagement in reading and social development. Palcic plays Wordle with her class using vowel groups and reading anchor charts to visually connect the reading game to their phonics lessons. In Palcic’s classroom as well as Elliot’s, students are encouraged to collaborate with their neighbors to identify the word: each class starts with a word and begins to play, hardly realizing that they’re learning about phoneme-grapheme associations and how letters can make multiple sounds. Elliot notes that while her fourth graders are typically moving away from phonemes and graphemes, COVID-induced learning gaps mean that some kids still require explicit phonics instruction. Elliot subsequently pairs up students with different skill levels for Wordle, allowing some to serve as peer leaders while other students catch up on foundational phonics skills.

 

Unlike other phone-based word games, Elliot insists that Wordle is not simply a passing trend: as a classroom tool, the power of the game is rooted in the science of reading. Based on the structure and popularity of Wordle, the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) recently outlined key insights about effective reading instruction gained from phonics games:

  • Some letters are more common than others, reminding educators that teaching the alphabet is not as simple as A through Z: rather, research on the science of reading suggests that the English alphabet should be taught based on letter frequency and difficulty.
  • The positions of letters in words matters. Young readers memorize more letter positions from high exposure to words, along with explicit phonics instruction.
  • Multiple letters can represent a single sound. For example, the word tough has five letters but only three sounds (/t/ /uh/ /f/), while the word thigh has five letters and two sounds (/th/ /ī/). Although letter-by-letter decoding is appropriate for young readers, they’ll soon learn that attending to letters around a letter is necessary for reading comprehension.
  • Vocabulary knowledge is important for spelling and reading. This is especially important as students become older, encounter more complex texts, and face more challenging assignments in reading comprehension and writing composition.
Phonics Instruction

Finally – and most importantly for our readers – phonics and spelling can be FUN. By thinking about reading and vocabulary expansion as a form of play, parents and caregivers are empowered to play and, in turn, read more with their children at home – whether through Wordle, the animated phonics activities available at Reading Teacher, or any other science-based phonics game.

Take-Aways:

  • The phonics game Wordle has become wildly popular across the Internet, delighting both reading teachers and their students.
  • The game can function as a classroom tool for reading instruction and encourages students to work as creative collaborators.
  • Wordle and other high-quality phonics games help reading teachers understand the power of play in expanding vocabulary, forming phoneme-grapheme associations, and other foundational skills for reading and writing competency.

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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.

New Year, Same Science: 3 Goals for Improved Literacy Instruction in 2022

New Year, Same Science: 3 Goals for Improved Literacy Instruction in 2022

We’ve conquered more than one month of 2022: a remarkable feat for any teacher or caregiver working alongside a child in their early reading journey. With a pandemic, teacher shortages, and districtwide shifts in curricula, the age-old simplicity of cozying up with a book is more complicated than ever. To simplify the headlines, we outline 3 national goals for literacy instruction based on the science of reading, with timely insights from researchers and educational leaders in the field.

Literacy Instruction in 2022

1. Improve teacher training in the science of reading – for real

New programs in North Carolina, Missouri, Alaska, and other states are retraining entire elementary schools in explicit and systematic phonics instruction, phonemic awareness, and the science of the literate brain. Yet these efforts will be insufficient, writes reading researcher Molly Ness, if teacher training programs neglect the latest research on the science of reading. According to a 2020 review of elementary teacher training programs by the National Council on Teacher Quality, only 53 percent of those programs provided sufficient coverage of essential early reading components. Retraining teachers is a time-consuming and costly endeavor, which is why it’s crucial for higher education programs to train future teachers effectively the first time around. In addition to systematic phonics, science-driven teacher training should cover the linguistic structure of English and the evaluation of foundational literacy skills through various measures.

 

2. Adopt instructional materials that align with the science of reading.

New teachers trained in the science of reading often enter schools using outdated instructional materials, such as the Units of Study from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. The resulting disconnect between teachers’ training and the materials they’re given is both disorienting and frustrating. Particularly for students learning English and/or students with learning disabilities, these older curricula fall short in the science of reading and may not provide sufficient text complexity in students’ first languages.

As high-impact individuals with the power to change curricula, district leaders can introduce research-supported reading curricula in their schools: among them, the Simple View of Reading. The Simple View of Reading states that students need to be able to decode, or read each word accurately and fluently, and comprehend the meaning of texts being read before progressing to higher-level reading skills.

Goals for Improved Literacy Instruction in 2022

3. Understand literacy as a social justice issue.

To best support each reader in a classroom, we must treat literacy as a social justice issue with the urgency it deserves. Poor reading skills are associated with increased risk for school dropout, mental health challenges, and barriers to employment and higher education, among other outcomes. Unfortunately, major reading gaps are visible in national data: the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Performance (NAEP) indicated that only 35% of all fourth-grade students performed at or above proficiency levels in reading; students of color, students with dyslexia, and other socioeconomic challenges are projected to perform at even lower percentages, especially since the onset of COVID-19. It’s critical to remember that students are not simply data points, just as reading is not a one-size-fits-all formula: there are humans behind these numbers, with complicated personal histories that intertwine with their reading journeys. Researchers maintain the importance of teaching students to decode words before moving onto more complex skills. When students crack that code, they’re more likely to continue reading and encountering more words, more places, and more narratives that both affirm and challenge their own.

Improved Literacy Instruction in 2022

Take-Aways:

  • Popular coverage of U.S. students’ national reading scores and associated challenges bring the science of reading into mainstream discussion, particularly as we navigate the educational challenges of 2022.
  • Insights from reading researchers illuminate 3 main goals to improve literacy instruction in 2022 and beyond:
    1. Improve teacher training.
    2. Adopt reading curricula that align with the science of reading.
    3. Frame literacy as a social justice issue with the urgency and care it deserves.

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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.

Looking for a New Reading Program? 3 Red-Flag Catchwords for Parents & Educators to Understand & Avoid

Looking for a New Reading Program? 3 Red-Flag Catchwords for Parents & Educators to Understand & Avoid

While we know that foundational literacy skills such as phonics and spelling are best learned from explicit instruction, seasoned reading teachers can run into trouble when a reading program sprinkles “red-flag” catchwords amid mentions of phonemic awareness, lifelong reading, and other honorable goals. To make it easier for you, we’re unpacking 3 red-flag words for teachers and parents to identify and avoid, based on the wisdom of psychologists, cognitive scientists, and other experts on the science of reading.

3 Red-Flag Catchwords for Parents

1) Whole Language Methodology

Many popular reading programs describe their methodologies as “whole language”: a widely debunked approach that encourages rote memorization and guessing words from images, among other pitfalls. Other programs use the related term “whole-class” to describe their curricula, which might convey images of students collaborating to achieve reading success: surely, any teacher’s dream. Although the vision behind whole language programs might be a noble one, the research depicts a different reality. Many of these programs minimize teacher involvement and encourage kids to memorize words, guess words from pictures, or simply skip words they can’t read. In an effort to move the whole class forward, many students – particularly those vulnerable to reading challenges, such as children of low socioeconomic status, children of color, and students with learning disabilities – are left behind.

2) Guided Reading

When used without explicit instruction in phonics and spelling, guided reading is another phrase that should raise the hairs of any reading teacher. Also called leveled reading, guided reading involves the separation of students into groups based on their reading levels and facilitating reading within these groups. While this practice continues in many classrooms, there is very little evidence that it actually works. At its core, guided reading minimizes teacher instruction while giving kids in lower reading groups a steady diet of less challenging texts, denying opportunities to stretch themselves – and expand their love for reading – by reading texts above their instructional levels with active teacher support.

3 Red-Flag Catchwords for Parents & Educators to Understand & Avoid

3) Leveled Texts

Related to the concept of guided or leveled reading, teachers and parents are encouraged to steer clear of reading programs that emphasize leveled texts with no use of decodable readers. Although some leveled reading work is appropriate for reading texts independently, classroom reading teachers are advised to focus on decodable texts for early readers whose foundational skills are still developing. Decoding is a critical process that creates brain words: stored representations preserved in long-term memory and used for fluent reading and writing. Explicit lessons in decoding and spelling are brain-changers for literacy, writes educational psychologist J. Richard Gentry: he encourages teachers to “think of the third-grader who in one weekly spelling book lesson on single-syllable homophones can learn the meanings and spellings of sell, cell, sail, great, and grate and commit them to long-term memory.” This lesson increases the child’s brain words, which can be accessed for the rest of their life: the direct result of explicit instruction.

New reading program

At Reading Teacher, we are heartened by a growing movement led by educators, cognitive scientists, psychologists, and parents to improve the “architecture” of both reading programs and the literate brain. We believe our step-by-step program is a meaningful part of this movement, and look forward to providing more tools and news to help you teach the science of reading in your classroom – so stay tuned!

Take-Aways:

  • Popular reading programs use various buzzwords to describe their curricula: yet many of these programs are ineffective and even detrimental to students’ reading performance.
  • As alternatives to whole-language methodology, guided reading, and leveled reading, cognitive scientists and educational psychologists recommend systematic and explicit instruction in both decoding and spelling for young readers.
  • High-quality reading programs recognize the importance of long-term memory and utilize decodable readers and strong spelling instruction to develop the “architecture” of a literate brain.

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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.

Teaching to Read the Right Way: The Social Impact of Science-Based Literacy Education

Teaching to Read the Right Way: The Social Impact of Science-Based Literacy Education

Within the past month, political statements on the importance of science-based literacy education have made headlines. Last week, New York City’s incoming school chancellor David Banks announced that the city’s school district has been teaching reading the wrong way for 25 years. By focusing on balanced literacy, Banks said, N.Y.C. schools’ reading instruction has been especially ineffective among low-income students. Similar observations by the Avoca School District 37 of Illinois persuaded the Illinois Association of School Boards to lobby for legislation to strengthen science-of-reading education for elementary teachers. By appealing to state legislators to invest in “scientifically proven methods of reading,” these political moves are shaping the trajectory of literacy education, particularly for students of color, those experiencing poverty, and all students impacted by an unfounded allegiance to balanced literacy.

Library

In Illinois, where Avoca D37 is pushing to license more elementary school teachers in the science of reading, average reading test scores are significantly lower among Black and Hispanic students and those who qualify for the National School Lunch Program. Race and economic gaps in reading scores are partially attributable to Illinois’ longtime emphasis on balanced literacy, based on the observations of Avoca Superintendent Dr. Kaine Osburn and other educational leaders. Instead of teaching phonics – how to recognize and ultimately decode letters by sight and sound – many Illinois educators still teach the whole-language approach of balanced literacy. While this may work for intermediate readers, it rarely benefits students with limited access to high-quality reading materials, students with dyslexia, and/or those learning English as a second language. By simply sprinkling phonics into balanced literacy education and allowing poor reading skills to go unaddressed, reading gaps between students of different socioeconomic backgrounds will continue to widen, sometimes beyond the point of remediation possible for an individual teacher to address.

Literacy Education

In New York City, home to the nation’s largest school district, school chancellor Banks addressed these gaps and urged educational leaders to make the long-awaited shift to reading instruction based on phonics. Under balanced literacy instruction, less than 30 percent of New York City fourth graders were proficient in reading, according to 2019 federal data, and 65% of the city’s Black and Brown students are not reaching proficiency. Yet Banks made it clear that reading is a code that all students can be taught to crack, with substantive federal funds and supportive teachers who understand how students’ brains work when learning to read.

 

In response to Banks’ statement, Juliana Worrell, chief schools officer of the Uncommon Schools public school network, wrote that the legislative moves envisioned by Banks are essential to ensure that literacy education pulls directly from the science of reading. In the Uncommon Schools network, for instance, educators are required to complete up to 70 hours of literacy training this year, with a focus on the different brain regions engaged in the process of reading. Worrell also stressed the need for students to have consistent access to rich, complex, and culturally responsive texts, opening them up to a broad range of experiences and identities. These three key commitments – science-based reading instruction, well-trained and supported teachers, and rich, culturally-responsive texts for young students – are essential to improving structured literacy education and eliminating reading gaps between students of varying socioeconomic backgrounds.

science based literacy education

Take-Aways:

  • Many school districts have been teaching balanced literacy for decades, denying students access to quality structured literacy education based on phonics and reading science.
  • Recent efforts by the New York City school chancellor and the Avoca 37 School District in Illinois highlight the necessity of science-based reading instruction to increase reading proficiency among students of color, students with reading disabilities, and/or students experiencing poverty.
  • Based on these efforts, it is apparent that science-based reading instruction, well-trained and supported teachers, and rich, culturally-responsive texts are essential for eliminating historical reading gaps.

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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-Based Reading Education, Family help

Family Engagement to Push for Science-Based Reading Education

While educators and legislators are essential in strategic efforts to boost literacy, families play an equally vital role in a child’s reading journey. This week, we discuss the importance of families and parents in supporting lifelong literacy, as well as strategies that can be employed outside of the classroom to supplement a child’s reading education.

 

As discussed in last week’s newsletter, both regional and national literacy efforts are focused on retraining educators and urging legislators to fund science-based literacy programs based on phonemic awareness, vocabulary expansion, and other foundational skills. While teachers should have knowledge of structured literacy instruction and data to help them address students’ reading challenge areas, the push for science-based reading instruction does not stop in the classroom. Ideally, parents and families have access to the knowledge and opportunities that will help their children become better readers, in tandem with up-to-date classroom instruction.

Family help in education

In a panel discussion hosted by the Seattle Times’ Education Lab on November 16th, the panelists spoke to the importance of familial involvement in students’ reading success. Fundamentally, the panelists framed literacy as a systemic issue, emphasizing that it takes a whole system - inclusive of educators, legislators, and families - to do the work of reading education. In addition to training school staff in science-based reading practices, panelist Paul Gordon, superintendent of the Wenatchee School District in Central Washington State, also urged families to ask questions about the data and philosophies that underpin their students’ reading curricula.

 

Of course, family engagement also depends on transparent and proactive communication from educators. Parents can ask questions and provide feedback about their child’s reading instruction, but schools and districts must also clearly explain the language and purpose of their literacy screening reports and reading instruction to families. Intentional conversations between families and educators should begin early and continue throughout the school year to support a student’s reading progress, encouraging both families and educators to reflect on a student’s reading improvement, obstacles, and actionable goals.

 

Regardless of a school district’s specific reading curriculum or a student’s overall academic confidence, experts wholeheartedly agree that families can best support their kids by exploring their non-traditional literary interests and reading with them at home. According to Frank Serafini, a professor of literacy education and children’s literature and expert on the science of reading, non-traditional reading materials are an excellent resource for skilled readers who are less interested in assigned classroom content. Examples include plot-driven and highly visual content such as graphic novels, magazines, or humorous series that are less likely to be assigned in the classroom. As long as the content is age-appropriate, the goal is to broaden children’s literary options while promoting continual usage of science-based reading strategies taught in the classroom.

science-based reading

Families can explore their children’s literary interests by simply reading with them at home. Danielle Moore, a first-grade teacher at Midlothian’s Baxter Elementary School, says that reading at home helps parents better understand their child’s overall progress and unique challenges. Critically, Moore acknowledges the difficulty of allocating extra time for reading, particularly as a working parent with multiple children; but these extra minutes pay dividends in the long-term, fostering an early love of reading in children while motivating families to remain involved in their children’s education.

Family help

Take-Aways:

  • In response to COVID-19 and years of poor reading instruction in the United States, reading experts are urging both educators and families to recognize the importance of science-based reading practices.
  • In recent panels focused on the science of reading and overall declines in U.S. students’ reading performance, experts emphasize the role of families in helping students overcome challenges and meet their literacy goals.
  • In addition to asking questions and learning about their child’s reading curriculum, parents can foster their child’s appreciation for reading by exploring non-traditional literary material and reading with them at home.

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.

Phonics Reading Games:

Phonics reading Games

Introduction:

Phonics is the building block to develop effortless reading among children with fluency, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, and reading comprehension.  Breaking the words into their constituent sounds aids the children in understanding and build up their literacy skills. Phonic reading games and activities are designed to assist in developing fluency in young students.

Phonic sounds assist the children in identifying and recognizing the alphabet more quickly and easily.  Identification and reading of phonics is an integral part of children’s language development and learning. If learning is combined with games, it becomes more engaging and interactive for the child.

Easy Reading Games

Interesting reading games for young learners will help them grab the concepts and sounds easily.  Henceforth, today we will discuss some of the phonic reading games for young learners. Let’s begin:

 

Begin with the anchor Charts:

It is rather the best way to teach tough concepts simply. Keeping them around the students will enable them to identify the letters with sounds independently. When we talk about phonics, there is much to learn about them. Post anchor charts in the classrooms to guide them to get familiar with the new letters religiously.   This is also a way to develop confidence among them.

Phonics Reading Games

Beginners love to put words to the test both in terms of silent E on end and without. This equally helps them to memorize some of the basic yet important rules such as silent E, vowels blends, consonants,  and much more. The different sound of the letter C is tricky, and thus, students may struggle with it. Therefore, use the anchor charts to recognize such words falling in this category.  They also get familiar with the hard and soft letters like C and G.

 

Color the Starting sounds:

The majority of the children begin learning phonics by mastering the initial sound of words. Making your kids color in the starting words with the matching sounds will help them learn new concepts. Therefore, try the fun coloring pages.

Beginning sounds

When a child looks at the letters and says their sounds, similarly, they see the picture and color the initial word, which develops the learning of the first word. This ultimately assists in developing reading skills go the future as well.

 

Construct the chart of beginning sounds:

Beginning sounds charts is the ideal resource to make rhyme or while working on word families with the young learners. Here it is significant to note that for rhyming words, it is vital to know the beginning sounds in the whole process.

Reading Games - Phonics

One of the easiest ways is to utilize the chart to take, for example, ‘an’ and then go through the chart like b-an, c-an, t-an, p-an, f-an, r-an, v-an, m-an, and much more. The charts not only help to get familiar with the rhyming words, but it is also a 1 page and a simple resource to assist the kids with spelling at the starting level.

 

These charts include almost 55 different beginning sounds with comprehensive word making.  These charts may include consonants, blends, digraphs, even the harder sounds.

 

Slap the letter sounds to recognize:

It is a fun game for beginners that involve great attention-catching element as kids physically get involved in them.  Slapping with a fly swatter will help them in recognition of the phonics. It is an equally interesting activity that holds the attention of the young learners as they learn the concepts while playing with the letters and alphabets.

Reading Games for Children

Walk the word game:

This is one of the best activities for active or hyperactive learners. This makes them happy and keeps moving while getting used to the new alphabet. By doing this, kids get to use their whole bodies to practice identifying the sounds along with blending them.  This is one of the simple and easy play games.

Phonics Reading Games

Write the words in sidewalk chalk, and then walk, hop or skip along with them. Ask the child to begin at the side you begin reading at. After that, make them step on every letter and say the sound. This is pretty simple but productive to learn new concepts by prompting or testing them during play.

 

Just swap spelling games:

The basic idea is to begin from the top and spell the very first word with letter tiles.  You keep moving on the game board and swap out one letter, for instance, cat to can. Moreover, you can also swap the last letter. If learners pay attention to the letters, they will know which letter is being swapped or exchanged.

Phonics Reading Games for Children

Students can move from one box to the other, the change of one letter brings in the new world represented by the picture. This may be a real challenge for the young learners, but mind testing technique to make them learn the words.

 

Compete at blends and digraphs bingo:

Bingo games are fun that assist them in helping the early readers to master the blends and digraphs. They struggle to differentiate between the blends, vowels, and single consonants.

Reading Games:

Conclusion:

With different Online phonic reading games, your child will recognize by just listening to the sounds of the words.  Give your child a head start at phonics and reading proficiency with our designed games.

Reading Teacher.com facilitates that young learners will have a blast mastering the toughest and tricky phonic concepts.  With the beautiful animation and exciting challenges, the beginners will get involved in them. These kindergarten and 1st-grade phonic reading games are the perfect way to empower your kids with reading skills.

Phonics Reading Games

Learning to read is an overwhelming task, especially when letters don’t always make a similar sound.  Our collection is developed by professionals to meet the specifications of kindergarten to grade 1 learners. Our sole objective remains to introduce the beginner to the world of letters and sounds and the relationship easily.  With audio, visuals, and phonic games, your child will have fundamental reading and spelling skills that will go a long way with him. This strengthens your familiarity as they immerse in delightful animation quest and story problems.

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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.

Teachers in Training for the Science of Reading

Teachers in Training: Train Teachers in the Science of Reading

A growing number of reading teachers are returning to the classroom – or the Zoom room – and assuming the role of student, learning how to revamp their literacy curricula and teaching strategies to meet the needs of their youngest readers. This week, we examine school districts that are working to train teachers in the science of reading, equipping them with data-driven tools and literacy tutors to restore foundational reading skills among all students.

 

A renewed emphasis on training teachers in reading science has led to major shifts in U.S. school districts: among them, Stanly County School District in North Carolina, where the composite pass rate for all students, defined as a level 3 or above, was 48 percent in 2019, almost 10 percentage points lower than the state average. In 2020, it fell to 37 percent. In response to this decline, the county’s elementary and pre-K teachers will soon complete the Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS), a state program that provides teachers with research, knowledge, and skills based on the science of reading to achieve literacy among all students, even those with dyslexia and other reading challenges.

 

LETRS contains eight units of study, each consisting of six to eight sessions, and is taught over the course of two years. During this time, teachers complete a total of 140 to 160 hours of work and learn critical concepts, including the foundational role of phonics in early literacy. Noting the volume of work required to complete LETRS, Stanly schools plan to implement extra time to complete training during staff meetings as well as professional development sessions. The scientific focus of LETRS is not limiting: if anything, educators at Stanley are eager to engage students with non-traditional reading materials and are encouraged to incorporate their unique teaching styles into LETRS-based curriculum, modifying and adapting to meet the needs of individual students and classrooms.

Teachers in Training for the Science of Reading

By optimizing teacher training to meet the immediate needs of students, elementary schools hope to ease the journey and increase the long-term success of both students and staff. Making literacy training accessible and applicable for teachers is key to the sustainability of these initiatives. Given federal relief money for extra K-2 supports and virtual literacy interventions, schools such as Rehobeth Elementary in Alabama are employing Title 1 classroom aides and paraprofessionals to work with students in and outside the classroom, in addition to training core teachers in the fundamentals of reading science.

Science of Reading

These recent efforts demonstrate the importance of both scheduling and funding to provide adequate support and training for teachers in the science of reading. While the details can be challenging, investing in well-trained teachers is a worthy cause: at Rehobeth, second graders improved their reading scores by 60 points from last fall to spring after boosting staff training and tutoring sessions, according to schoolwide data. Recent research from the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance additionally suggests that while literacy interventions work at any grade, introducing interventions and tutoring in kindergarten through second grade is optimal to minimize the developmental and financial costs of reading remediation at higher grade levels. Kymyona Burk, a national reading expert who pioneered a Mississippi-based reading retention program in similar to Rehobeth’s, ultimately urges schools to “invest in people.” This investment includes teacher training and literacy curricula based on the science of reading, utilizing federal COVID aid to listen and respond to the needs of reading teachers, and helping students recover the foundational K-2 literacy skills that will pave the way to lifelong reading.

Teachers in Training for the Science of Reading

Take-Aways:

  • Stanly County School District in North Carolina and Rehobeth Elementary in Alabama have both implemented plans to train teachers in the science of reading, focusing on foundational skills such as phonemic awareness and decoding.
  • In North Carolina, the statewide teacher training program known as LETRS will equip teachers with science-backed strategies to improve reading success among all students, even readers with dyslexia and other learning challenges.
  • Prioritizing teachers and literacy tutors trained in the science of reading is key to the long-term success and sustainability of literacy curricula, particularly as classrooms continue to recover skills lost during virtual instruction.

 

 

5 Strategies to Train Teachers in the Science of Reading

As the science of reading has progressed, so have the tools for teaching it. Here are some strategies for teachers to use in their classrooms to promote reading and improve student achievement.

Strategies for Teachers

There are many strategies for teachers to use in their classrooms to promote reading and improve student achievement. One way is to use a reading-friendly classroom, which features a positive reading environment. This could include an article on a wall that students are encouraged to read or being given the opportunity to select a book they want to read. Teachers should also incorporate phonics into their lessons by teaching students how letters make different sounds and words can be changed by adding small spelling changes like changing “man” to “men.” Repetition is another way teachers can help with reading skills. Students should be exposed to the same material over and over again which will help them remember what they have learned in class. Lastly, educators should encourage children who have difficulty with reading comprehension by teaching them strategies for dealing with difficult texts like summarizing sentences or looking at pictures with captions for additional information about the text.

Strategies for Parents

Although we have many different strategies for teachers, it’s important to remember that parents play a large role in the development of their child’s reading skills. Here are some ways that parents can help their children with reading:

1. Provide your child with plenty of books and magazines with words they are likely to know

2. Go on daily walks or take car trips to expose them to new words

3. Get involved in your child’s school and encourage other parents to do the same

4. Read aloud to your child every day, even if it doesn’t last long

5. Encourage your child to read out loud to you

Strategies for School Leaders

1. Implement a reading culture in your school.

2. Create a supportive environment for reading.

3. Provide access to a wide variety of texts and materials

Implementation Suggestions

1. Teach letter combinations and phonemes.

2. Use multisensory instruction to make the connection between visual and auditory cues.

3. Provide a guided reading experience with a focus on comprehension, not just decoding skills.

4. Use explicit teaching strategies to support struggling readers through reading comprehension exercises that closely align with their needs.

5. Create engaging lessons using high-interest text to keep students engaged in the learning process.

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.