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Text reads "Getting Started with the Science of Reading: What is Structured Literacy" on the left with a tray with colored letter tiles on the right.

What is Structured Literacy? Getting Started with SoR

Structured literacy is what’s at the forefront of elementary education topics right now. There’s been a growing push for improving our reading instruction and results for students, especially those with dyslexia and other reading challenges. The focus has been on ensuring all children learn to read. My post discussing the need for phonics instruction dives into this topic more. Structured literacy has many of the same components of other literacy programs, but the shift is

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5 encoding ideas for building spelling skills text beside an image of writing the two syllable word "upset" on dry erase index cards.

5 Encoding Ideas to Practice Phonics and Build Spelling Skills

For some students, depending on their phase of reading development, and each student’s unique characteristics, it can take a long time before a word is orthographically mapped and stored in their long-term memory. To support orthographic mapping, students need many exposures and repetitions with words to build the needed connections for automatic word reading and writing. I firmly believe in building students’ long term word identification skills with a focus on encoding, or writing the words.

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Getting Started with the Science of Reading: Structuring Your Explicit Phonics Lessons with printable phonics lesson plan template laid on colored paper

How to Structure your Phonics Lesson Plan: Getting Started with SoR

Next up in my Introduction to the Science of Reading series, we’re looking at our phonics lessons. More specifically, our systematic and explicit phonics lessons. During the last several weeks we’ve been diving into the bottom strands of Scarborough’s Rope focusing on word recognition. I talked about the need for systematic and sequential phonics instruction in my last post. In this one, I’m not focusing on what phonics skills you should be teaching. Most of

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The Need for Systematic, Sequential, and Explicit Phonics: Getting Started with the Science of Reading

It’s time we spend a little bit of time diving into phonics. Phonics is at the forefront of the Science of Reading conversations. In fact, when you hear someone talk about SOR, they may really only be talking about phonics. The science of reading instruction is about so much more than just phonics instruction. But, phonics hasn’t been enough of a focus in our classrooms over the last several decades, and our NAEP results show

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long a cvce blending lines page next to text "5 decoding activities for your small groups"

5 Decoding Activities to Practice Phonics Skills

For some students, depending on their phase of reading development, it can take a significant amount of time before a word is orthographically mapped and stored in their long-term memory for quick retrieval. Meaning, it’s recognized on sight and would be considered a “sight word“. Along the way, students need many exposures and repetitions with words to build the needed connections for automatic word reading. Students need opportunities to practice and review skills well after

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