Dictation and its Importance:

• What Is Dictation: Dictation is an activity that provides students the opportunity to spell phonics patterns that they are currently focusing on, as well as the opportunity to practice previously-taught skills.

• What it Is Important: When students practice dictation, they're connecting sound to symbol. Many studies show that when students practice these letter-sound relationships, students excel. Dictation is a great way to practice this. Reading and writing go hand-in-hand, and once you incorporate dictation into your lessons, you'll find quicker student success!

Full Show Notes Here

Full Show Notes Here

The other day, I had the pleasure of sitting down with the one and only Sarah Paul, the mastermind behind Sarah's Teaching Snippets. She's a current reading interventionist for K-3rd and a prior first-grade teacher. As with many of the experts on my podcast, she too was a balanced literacy teacher who found that her students were struggling to read and wasn't sure why. So, she set out on her own science of reading journey in order to learn more about how kids really learn to read. Through this, Sarah's Teaching Snippets was born and now she helps educators teach reading the right way.

Where to Find Sarah:

• Blog - Sarah's Teaching Snippets

• YouTube Channel - Sarah's Teaching Snippets

• Instagram - Snippets by Sarah

Today, we're asking Sarah all of our fluency questions and getting some awesome answers. Through this conversation, we chat about what exactly fluency is, how we can help our kids achieve fluency, and the importance of it.

Savannah Campbell shares all about the importance of cumulative review!

Full Show Notes Here

Cumulative Review:

• Cumulative review is simply giving children enough practice in the skills that we have taught them, so they are able to read to automaticity.

• We do a great job teaching the "skills" from day to day, but what we don't do is give them multiple opportunities to practice.

• Automaticity is a precursor to reading comprehension. We have to practice these skills 4-6 weeks after we have taught them.

Connect with Savannah:

Website

Instagram

Facebook

Resources for Cumulative Review:

Cumulative Review Blog Post- Savannah Campbell

Sound Decks

Fluency Grids

Word Chaining

Dictation Helpers

Many of us hear the words "science of reading" and automatically assume it's just about phonics. While phonics is an essential part of learning to read - it's not the only thing. Let's take a look at how phonics is related to another very important aspect of reading: comprehension. Full Show Notes Here

Additional Resources & References:

Resources:

Comprehension Visuals

Mystery Words Phonics Activity

Phonemic Awareness Activities (Blending & Segmenting CVC)

Blog Posts:

What is Comprehension?

5 Engaging Phonics Activities

Mentor Texts

Full Show Notes Here All About Jessica:

• Former elementary school teacher for 13 years, mostly in 1st grade

• Certified in reading grades K-12

• Jessica learned about the science of reading in 2019 and although her heart sank with guilt at how she was initially teaching her students, she began to read and learn all she could about the science of reading. Fast forward and she's now sharing Tik Tok phonics videos that help both teachers and parents learn about phonics so they can best teach their students and kids!

• Connect with Jessica Farmer:

• Tik Tok

• Instagram

• YouTube

• Facebook

All About Orthographic Mapping:

• Orthographic Mapping is NOT an activity - it's something that happens in our brain.

• Our brain is not hard-wired to read. Because of this, we must create pathways and roads that help our brains learn how to read.

• Orthographic Mapping pathways look a little like this:

Full show notes can be found here.

When we sit down to plan our small group time, we must keep the end goal of phonics in mind: we want to produce strong decoders and strong writers. When students are strong in decoding, they can become fluent. And when they become fluent, they can comprehend - that is our ultimate goal! I've put together a checklist of six things to keep in mind when choosing the right activities for your small group time.

Resources:

Word Detectives - Short Vowels CVC Words

Word Chaining Bundle

Letter Sound Fluency Grids & Successive Blending

Blog Posts:

5 Engaging Phonics Activities

My Favorite Phonics Activities

Phonics Routines That Work

Full Show Notes Here

With all of the rules out there on how to teach phonics, it can all feel overwhelming. I've put together a reference of Do's and Don't's when it comes to teaching phonics so you can feel confident in your instruction.

Additional Resources & References:

Blog Posts:

5 Engaging Phonics Activities

Phonics Routines That Work

A Deeper Look at Phonics

Full Show Notes Here

We know that small group time is so important. We have a group of students who have a need, and we want to be the ones to meet it! Take a look at Part 2 of our phonics lesson to learn how.

Helpful Phonics Resources:

• Phonics Reading Roadmap: phonics instruction with the science of reading in mind. Learn how to teach systematic and explicit phonics instruction.

• Kindergarten Roadmap: focus on letter sounds and phonemic awareness, be equipped with tools you'll use in your small group lessons that will encourage phonics and decoding

• Phonics Lessons & Activities MEGA Bundle: includes a scope and sequence, blank templates, phonemic awareness warm-ups, drill cards, sentence pyramids, and so, so much more.

• Blog Posts:

• 5 Engaging Phonics Activities

• A Deeper Look at Phonics

• Does Phonemic Awareness Belong in Your Phonics Lesson?

• Orthographic Mapping

(Full Show Notes Here) When preparing a phonics lesson, we need to be sure we're conducting it in three parts: a warm-up, explicit teaching, and application of skills. Below, you'll find the first part of the lesson (the warm-up) and its four parts: a visual drill, an auditory drill, a blending drill, and a vowel intensive.

Helpful Phonics Resources:

• Phonics Reading Roadmap: phonics instruction with the science of reading in mind. Learn how to teach systematic and explicit phonics instruction.

• Kindergarten Roadmap: focus on letter sounds and phonemic awareness, and be equipped with tools you'll use in your small group lessons that will encourage phonics and decoding

• Phonics Lessons & Activities MEGA Bundle: includes a scope and sequence, blank templates, phonemic awareness warm-ups, drill cards, sentence pyramids, and so, so much more.

• Blog Posts:

• 5 Engaging Phonics Activities

• A Deeper Look at Phonics

• Does Phonemic Awareness Belong in Your Phonics Lesson?

• Orthographic Mapping

(Full Show Notes Here)

Wondering how to ensure your phonics time is effective? Here's a quick look at what solid phonics instruction looks like, plus a little lesson in how our brain reads words.

FIRST, WHAT IS PHONICS?:

• Phonics is the connection between sounds of spoken words and the individual letters or groups of letters that make up that word.

• Solid phonics instruction is so important because it is a key contributor to future reading success.

• This process is nuanced and complex as it happens in our brains

WHERE CAN I FIND RESOURCES TO HELP ME?

• Phonics Reading Roadmap: phonics instruction with the science of reading in mind. Learn how to teach systematic and explicit phonics instruction.

• Kindergarten Roadmap: focus on letter sounds and phonemic awareness, and be equipped with tools you'll use in your small group lessons that will encourage phonics and decoding

• Phonics Lessons & Activities MEGA Bundle: includes a scope and sequence, blank templates, phonemic awareness warm-ups, drill cards, sentence pyramids, and so, so much more.

• Blog Posts:

• 5 Engaging Phonics Activities

• What Is Phonics?

• Does Phonemic Awareness Belong in Your Phonics Lesson?

• Phonics Routines That Work