Teaching phonics. If you’re an elementary school teacher, you are likely working hard to incorporate more phonics and structured literacy into your classroom. However, there’s a good chance that you didn’t actually learn this stuff in college. How are teachers supposed to use a structured, phonics based approach with their students if they don’t understand the rules themselves? The answer…
Teaching new sounds using science of reading based approaches doesn’t have to be complicated. In my first grade classroom, after we review letter sounds quickly, we begin to introduce a new sound each week based on the sound progression from our phonics program. Here are the simple and effective ways we learn a new sound in first grade. Day 1-…
Teaching open syllables to your students can help them decode and write a large number of words. Single syllable open syllable words are some of the most common words used in the English language which means they are very important to teach young students. Here is how you can teach open syllables to your first grade, second grade, or kindergarten…
When you have an extra five minutes before lunch or the end of the day, what do you do? This is a great time to get in some quick and easy word and phonics practice. Here is one of my favorite, simple games to sneak in some extra phonics practice: the magic word game! What is the Magic Word Game?…
CVCe words, or silent e words, are normally the first long vowel words children learn to write and read. These long vowel words include 3 sounds, a beginning sound, a middle vowel sound that is long, and an ending sound. The e at the end of the word is silent. Kindergarten and first grade teachers use CVCe words often in…