Make this the year for supercharged reading growth!
The Science of Reading is sweeping through the country like wildfire and for good reason – 70 years of research has shown us how brains best learn to read. Gone are the days when we try new curriculum after new curriculum hoping that it’s the secret key to turn our students into fluent readers. What’s the actual secret to busting our current reading reality? Using a brain-friendly approach that’s been proven to actually work! These ten actionable science of reading strategies give you the best bang for your teaching buck.Â
1. Practice phonological awareness every single day
One thing we’ve learned through 70 years of research is that new readers need to practice phonological awareness every single day. Even though we know this is best practice, it can feel daunting and overwhelming to add yet another thing to your already full plate.Â
That’s why we created the ultimate print-and-go solution to take the “omg another thing to do!” stress off your plate. Our phonological awareness daily warmups include 40 weeks of ready to use warm ups that your students will actually love. Simply print these warm ups and store them away in a binder. You’ll be all set for the entire year. It doesn’t get any simpler than that!
2. Pinpoint students’ specific phonological awareness needs
What’s the fastest way to provide targeted, student-specific instruction? Knowing students’ exact phonological awareness strengths and weaknesses. Our phonological awareness assessment makes it simple for you to assess twelve different phonological awareness skills. This ready-to-use assessment is designed to be administered three times a year so that you can differentiate instruction to meet the unique needs of each student. Get ready to see your students soar!
3. Teach phonics skills in the correct orderÂ
When phonics skills aren’t taught in the correct order, students are left confused, frustrated, and lacking important skills they need to become fluent readers. Much like building a house or baking a cake, there really is a best order to teach phonics that will transform your students from non-readers to actual readers right before your eyes.Â
Our phonics scope and sequence reveals the exact step-by step order that we use to teach each and every phonics skill inside the Science of Reading Formula. Simply print this scope and sequence to unlock the most effective order to teach phonics!
4. Ask these five questions each time you teach a new letterÂ
Humans are wired to understand spoken language from an early age- that’s no surprise since we learn to speak before we learn to read! When we’re intentional with focusing on the sound letters make, it allows students to tap into their innate understanding of speech. Create an anchor chart with these five questions to ask each and every time you introduce a new letter: 1. What are your lips doing? 2. What are your teeth doing? 3. What is your tongue doing? 4. What is your voice box doing? 5. How is your air flowing? Try these questions with each and every letter and what the learning wheels turn.Â
5. Use a multi-sensory approach when teaching letter sounds
Written letters have absolutely no meaning to students who are learning how to read. Zero. Zilch. The squiggly letters are essentially like us trying to read hieroglyphics. It’s nearly impossible!Â
But our alphabet chant takes a multi-sensory approach to learning so students are able to connect a letter shape to the sound it makes. Once students pair different letters and sounds together, they are able to read words. And because this multi-sensory chant fires multiple parts of the brain at once by having readers see an alphabet card, say the chant, and do the action, they’ll learn faster and easier than ever before.. It’s pure teaching magic!Â
6. Swap your word wall for a sound wall
By now you know that having students focus on the look and sound of letters and spelling patterns makes a big difference in their learning. So if you have an old school word wall hanging up somewhere in your classroom, change it out for a sound wall like this one. Seeing the specific ways sounds look and feel written next to their different spelling patterns helps new readers connect all of the letter-sound dots more quickly.
7. Create small groups by phonics skill
Assessments might get a bad rap, but they are POWERFUL. Once you’ve assessed your students using our phonics assessment, you’ll have all the data you need to create strategic small groups. Instead of grouping students by reading level, try forming small groups based on their phonics needs. You’ll be able to provide targeted, specific instruction for each of your students’ unique needs. That will mean less prep for you and more growth for your students. Now that’s a win-win!Â
8. Teach sight words by phonics skill
Old school sight word lists are taught by how frequently they appear in text. The higher the frequency the word appears, the sooner it’s taught. Sounds great, right? But there’s one huge problem with this – we’re teaching words that follow completely different phonics rules. Students are trying to learn and apply several different phonics skills at once. Can you say, “confusing”?!Â
Luckily, there’s a simple fix. Instead of teaching sight words by frequency, teach them by phonics skill. Students will learn one phonics skill at a time before moving on to the next one. These print-and-go sight word lists are pre-organized by phonics skill making it super easy for you to maximize reading growth for your students.Â
9. Say “goodbye” to sight word flash cards
If you’re ready to become science of reading aligned, ditch old school flash cards and say “hello” to your new best friend, sound maps! Instead of relying on rote memorization, sound maps allow students to focus on the specific, individual sounds in each sight word. Our sound map pack keeps students engaged all year long with 27 different sound maps. The best part? Each sound map comes with three different versions so students can practice three, four, and FIVE phoneme words!
10. Join the Science of Reading Formula
Switching to the science of reading can feel like a lot but you don’t have to do this alone! Join the Science of Reading Formula and gain access to THOUSANDS of science of reading aligned tools and activities. Teaching reading the brain-friendly way will instantly get a whooooole lot easier.Â
There are so many science of reading strategies that are game changers for students. This is just the tip of the iceberg! When you’re ready to dive in, request an invite to our VIP teaching membership, The Science of Reading Formula, so you can see the difference that teaching reading the easier, brain-friendly way has on your life too!
