Finding the right keyword to use as a reference for supporting students as you are teaching letter sounds is very important. Many letter sounds resources and alphabet lines include pictures or keywords that actually make letter sound learning more difficult. You might be thinking you can just use any word that begins with that letter. In some cases, you are right. We can teach students the sound for “B” is connected to ball or bat
There is so much terminology to learn and understand in teaching, and especially in literacy instruction. If you’re taking a deep dive into the Science of Reading, it can even feel overwhelming. One of the goals I have with my Comparison Corner series is to take some of the vocabulary and terminology that are commonly confused and explain them in an easy-to-digest format. Next up in the series is a look at one of the
Blends and digraphs are two phonics terms that I’ve seen commonly confused. The confusion seems to stem from the fact the fact most include two consonants together. However, the difference between them comes from the number of phonemes those letters represents. It’s the number of phonemes that makes teaching both correctly so important. Let’s take a look at blends and digraphs and instructional implications based on their differences. What are Blends? Blends are clusters of
Do you have students that struggle to blend words together after saying each sound? Do they say a different word? Or reverse letters in initial and final position? This struggle is not too uncommon, especially for students with weak phonological working memory, or those still developing in phonemic awareness skills. Students in the partial alphabetic and full alphabetic phase of reading may also display these behaviors. Thankfully, continuous blending, or connected phonation, is a great
Vocabulary is a significant predictor of overall reading comprehension and student performance, even as young as kindergarten. Vocabulary instruction, while not talked about as much as other literacy components, should be an intentional component of our day. A lot of our students’ word knowledge and vocabulary is learned without our explicit instruction. But, explicit vocabulary instruction must be present in our classrooms. In my The 3 Tiers of Vocabulary post, I walked through each of the
I’ve spent the last 15 years teaching in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades, and working beside elementary classrooms as an instructional coach and resource support. I’m passionate about math, literacy, and finding ways to make teachers’ days easier. I share from my experiences both in and out of the elementary classroom. Read more About Me.
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