Blog | L is for Literacy

The Magic of a Quality Read Aloud: Transforming Literacy Instruction in Your Classroom

As a literacy coach, I’ve walked into hundreds of classrooms over the years, and there’s something truly special about turning the corner and finding a teacher deeply engaged in a quality read aloud with their students. Those moments—where eyes are wide, bodies are still, and minds are clearly traveling somewhere else entirely—remind me why I fell in love with teaching literacy in the first place.

Science of Reading

Finding the Sweet Spot: How Much Time Should You Spend on Teaching Phonics?

If there’s one question I hear constantly in my literacy coaching sessions, it’s this: “How much time should I really be spending on teaching phonics?”

Trust me, you’re not alone in wondering this. As teachers, we’re constantly juggling competing priorities within those precious instructional minutes. And with the renewed emphasis on the Science of Reading, many of us are reevaluating our literacy blocks, especially when it comes to effective phonics instruction.

Science of Reading

Fluency and Comprehension: Teaching Students to Read in Meaningful Phrases (And Why It Matters)

Have you ever watched a struggling reader laboriously sound out each word, only to reach the end of the paragraph with little understanding of what they just read? This common classroom scenario illustrates the critical relationship between fluency and comprehension—a connection that’s often misunderstood or under appreciated in our reading instruction.

Science of Reading

Making Your Classroom Sound Wall Work: A Teacher’s Complete Guide

I remember the first time I saw a beautifully crafted classroom sound wall on Pinterest. Like many of you, I thought, “If I just put this up in my classroom, my students’ reading will improve!” But as much as I love making things beautiful, simply having a pretty display isn’t enough. Today, let’s talk about how to make your classroom sound wall truly work for you and your students.

Science of Reading

Make Reading Click: How Sound Walls Help Students Connect Letters to Sounds

You know what I love about the Science of Reading? It keeps teaching us better ways to help our students succeed. One of the most powerful tools to emerge from this research are sound walls. Unlike traditional word walls that organize words by letters, sound walls tap into how our brains actually process language. And let me tell you, the results I’m seeing in classrooms are remarkable.

Science of Reading

Deleting and Substituting Sounds: Simple Strategies for Teaching Sound Manipulation

You know those moments when you’re teaching phonemic awareness and you think, “There has to be a way to make this click for my kids”? I had one of those moments last week working with a struggling reader named Maya. We were practicing deleting and substituting sounds, and she just wasn’t getting it. Then I tried something that changed everything – but let me back up a bit first.

Science of Reading

Teaching Blending and Segmenting: Your Guide to These Essential Reading Skills

You’re sitting with a small group of students, and you can see the wheels turning as they work to sound out a new word. We’ve all been there – watching our students stretch and blend sounds, sometimes smoothly, sometimes with a bit more struggle. Today, let’s dive deep into two absolutely crucial skills that make all the difference in early reading success: blending and segmenting.

Science of Reading

Modeled Reading: Your Secret Weapon for Building Fluent Readers

Have you ever noticed how young children naturally mimic the voices and expressions of adults around them? This natural learning process is exactly why modeled reading is such a powerful tool in our literacy instruction toolkit. Today, let’s dive into what modeled reading is, why it works, and how you can use it effectively in your classroom to transform your students into confident, fluent readers.

Science of Reading

Echo Reading: Your New Secret Weapon for Building Reading Fluency

Since learning about echo reading and seeing the positive impact it had on James, I’ve used this approach with lots of other readers that I’ve worked with in my years as an Education Specialist and Reading Interventionist. Curious? You grab your morning coffee, I’ll grab my chai latte and let’s talk about echo reading and how to make it work in your classroom.

Science of Reading

Let’s Talk About Choral Reading (And Why I Love It for Building Fluency!)

You know that magical moment when your whole class is reading together, and even your most hesitant readers are joining in? That’s what we’re going to talk about today. After years of working with struggling readers, I can tell you that choral reading is one of those research-based strategies that I’m glad I have in my teacher toolkit – and I’m excited to share why.

L is for Literacy

The Magic of a Quality Read Aloud: Transforming Literacy Instruction in Your Classroom

Finding the Sweet Spot: How Much Time Should You Spend on Teaching Phonics?

Fluency and Comprehension: Teaching Students to Read in Meaningful Phrases (And Why It Matters)

Making Your Classroom Sound Wall Work: A Teacher’s Complete Guide

Make Reading Click: How Sound Walls Help Students Connect Letters to Sounds

Deleting and Substituting Sounds: Simple Strategies for Teaching Sound Manipulation

Teaching Blending and Segmenting: Your Guide to These Essential Reading Skills

Modeled Reading: Your Secret Weapon for Building Fluent Readers

Echo Reading: Your New Secret Weapon for Building Reading Fluency

Let’s Talk About Choral Reading (And Why I Love It for Building Fluency!)

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We're in this together!

HOME | ABOUT | BLOG | READ ALOUD RECS | CONTACT

COOKIE POLICY | PRIVACY POLICY | DISCLAIMER | TERMS OF SERVICE

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