Consonants deserve their own episode! We can't let vowels steal all the glory. Learn about the building blocks of language: vowels/consonants, blends, digraphs. Learn more about how we teach our students about consonants as we share our tricks, tips, and resources.

Resource Links:

1. Precise Pronunciation
2. Digraph brothers
3. FCRR Digraph a Word
4. FCRR Student Center Activities
5. Ending Blends Clip Cards
6. PBS Videos and Resources for Consonant Blends
7. Curated Video Playlist about Blends and Digraphs

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Mary and Shannon sort out the complex terms that are related to phonological processing. What is the difference between phonological awareness and phoneme awareness? We discuss how we teach these skills and provide resource ideas for you to try!


Resource Links:

1. Phonological and Phonemic Awareness Introduction
2. Orton Gillingham Educators' Guide
3. Equipped for Reading Success by David Kilpatrick
4. Phonological Awareness and Dyslexia
5. Phonemic Awareness Overview (from U. of Oregon)
6. Getting Ready to Read Phonemic Awareness Centers (with the Frog book cover)
7. FCRR Student Activities-look at the Phonological Awareness resources
8. The Literacy Nest:Building Phonemic Awareness for Struggling Readers
9. Long and Short Vowel Phonemic Awareness sort
10. Shannon's Phonemic Awareness resources

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Shannon and Mary discuss how to determine "just right activities" for their students by working within the ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development) and how analyzing your students' scores can lead to developing rigorous activities within the student's instructional level. We believe that learning to read is rigorous and teachers must continue to teach students where they are while developing their lofty learning goals.

Resource Links:

1. ZPD Overview (Wikipedia)
2. ZPD and Scaffolding
3. Reading Levels and ZPDs
4. Zone of Proximal Development
5. ZPD and Accelerated Reader/Renaissance Learning
6. How do you find the instructional reading level? Analyzing Accuracy
7. Free Data Folder resource
8. Episode 4: Decoding the MAP Test

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Shannon and Mary have a conversation about reversals of letters and numbers. Many parents and teachers are concerned about reversals, but the truth is that all reversals do need to be explicitly taught. Some children will make developmentally appropriate errors, while others are struggling with working memory, visual, and phonological processing. Direct instruction with model (verbal and visual cues) and demonstration is the only research-based strategy to help children correct their reversals.


Resource Links:

1. Bat and Ball; Drum and Stick
2. B is a bad, bad boy; D's like to talk
3. Letter reversal poster
4. Guest Blogger from Bay Tree Blog Ultimate Teacher's Guide to Letter and Number Reversals
5. Handwriting Without Tears Professional Development
6. Ann Marie Morey - Free handwriting resources

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Shannon and Mary talk about coping behaviors that struggling readers use to hide the "big secret" that they can't read. They share details about students' actions that teachers can look for in the classroom to gather more insight about their learners. Some tactics that are labeled as troublesome are actually deflection tactics that struggling students use to mask their learning deficits. Come join the conversation! Do the children in your room display these behaviors? We think you'll recognize many of your kids in these examples.


Resource Links:

1. Struggling Reader Behavior Checklist
2. Why Millions of Kids Can't Read and What Better Teaching Can Do About It
3. 45 Questions to Encourage Student Reflection and Growth
4. Instructional Level versus Independent Level
5. Selecting Just Right Books
6. Hi-Lo Books High Interest/Low Readability Books

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Mary and Shannon discuss Dyslexia. There are a lot of misconceptions that are due to lack of training. Many teachers are somewhat familiar with dyslexia and may even say that they have previously taught students with dyslexia. However, the reality is that almost 20% of the population struggles with dyslexia and may or may not be formally diagnosed. Find out more about dyslexia and join the conversation. Are you wondering what you can do to keep your classroom "dyslexic-friendly?" We have plenty of ideas!

Resource Links:

1. Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz
2. Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity
3. Dyslexia in the Classroom: What every teacher should know from IDA
4. 8 Things Every Teacher Should Know about Dyslexia
5. Teachers Don't Understand the Depth of Dyslexia
6. Letter Fed Gov Guidance on Dyslexia 2015
7. APM Reports Educate: Hard Words by Emily Hanlon
8. Dyslexia Simulation - Dyslexia Training Institute
9. Learning Ally
10. An interview with Patricia Polacco (children's author) about her struggle with dyslexia

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Are you teaching sight words in your classroom? Parents, are you supporting your child's practice in learning sight words? It's important to have a large bag of tricks. Listen as Shannon and Mary discuss many different ideas for parents and teachers to reinforce multiple practice turns for students as they are gaining automaticity in reading and spelling sight words.


Resource Links:

1. Red Words 
2. Sight Word Stories by Margaret Hillert
3. Structured Word Inquiry Webinar
4. Sight Word Phrases
5. Sight Word Parking Log
6. Sight Word Guess Who
7. Shannon's Sight Word Teaching resources

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Shannon and Mary discuss the final pattern of the six syllable types: 'consonant+le'.  Listen and join the conversation as they review CLOVER (closed, consonant + le, open, vowel teams, magic-e, and r-control syllable types). Find resources for how to teach syllables in your classroom and some clever tricks to reach your struggling readers. If you have students in your classroom who still haven't "cracked the code", come learn some strategies that will help you reach readers with phonics-based reading instruction.


Resource Links:

1. FCRR Speedy Syllables activity
2. Curated Syllables Youtube clips playlist
3. Wiley Blevins upper grade phonics book
4. How to Teach Syllables 
5. The Literacy Nest CLOVER syllables
6. Shannon's Syllables Teaching Units & Lesson Plans

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Vowel teams are combinations of vowels (two or more) that make one sound. When students begin learning about vowel teams they have to demonstrate an understanding of sound symbol relationship where multiple vowel teams represent a single sound. This developmental decoding milestone is quite complex and is a critical step that students must take on their journey to mastering syllable patterns. Shannon and Mary will walk you through some of the important steps in teaching readers vowel teams.

Resource Links:

1. The Literacy Nest Tips for Teaching Vowel Teams
2. Curated Vowel Teams Youtube clips playlist
3. FCRR Same but Different activity
4. FCRR Vowel Digraph Baseball activity
5. Words Their Way Within Word text
6. Pat Cunningham Looks Right strategy
7. Pat Cunningham Brand Name Phonics (unit within the text)
8. Vowel Team Word list with pictures (made by Shannon)
9. Electric Company video link (from the end of the episode)
10. Shannon's Vowel Team Lesson Plans & Activities

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Shannon and Mary discuss how they discovered the importance of teaching phonics instruction and syllable division to help their student begin to crack the code of reading. Throughout the episode they will talk about strategies and activities that include multi-sensory phonics instruction for teaching r-controlled vowel patterns.

Resource Links:

1. R-Controlled Spin game from FCRR
2. GREAT Youtube video clips to introduce & practice the sounds!
3. The Literacy Nest article about r-controlled vowels
4. Smitten with First R-controlled Friends
5. The Measured Mom Gem r-controlled game
6. Pat Cunningham Looks Right Strategy
7. Pat Cunningham Making Words activity
8. The Measured Mom FREE Elkonin boxes
9. R-Controlled word list and pictures (made by Shannon)
10. Shannon's R Controlled Vowel Teaching Units & Lesson Plans

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