Jan Hasbrouck believes firmly in the 5 Fs of Fluency: "FIRST and FOREMOST and FOREVER ACCURACY  is the FOUNDATION of FLUENCY" (TLC webinar, 2021). A lack of fluency can lead to a lack of motivation to read, which results in fewer words read, which results in limited comprehension. This cycle repeats until students often give up believing themselves unable to read well. 

This episode focuses on fluency, what it is, and how to help students improve. 

Resources mentioned in this episode include the following: 

Updated ORF scale

Llama Llama Misses Mama

You Read to Me & I'll Read to You

Rasinski's Megabook of Fluency and Rhymes for the Times

I Am Reading by Collins and Glover

Lakeshore's readers' theater script boxes

The water cycle readers' theater by Enchanted Learning

Elephant & Piggie books

On this episode, we continue talking about phonics. How do you teach phonics to English Language Learners or struggling readers? How do you keep students interested in phonics instruction? 

Join us as we discuss these questions and more. 

Thank you so much for your patience with us! This whole podcasting platform is new to us, and we are learning how to balance this with everything else we, as teachers, have going on. Sound familiar? We bet your life is just as hectic!

On today's episode, we are answering some listener questions about phonics: the best books for teaching phonics; how parents can support their child's phonics learning; the best way to teach phonics; and effective strategies.

Resources cited in today's episode include the following:

Today, we are talking about the importance of oral language. Oral language serves as the foundation to the pillars of literacy, and without it, students struggle to learn to read. 

Here are links to a few of the things we mention in today's episode: 

Gracie's Corner Phonics Song: https://youtu.be/8N52qAvsHPw

The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading by Christopher Such: Amazon.com: The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading (Corwin Ltd): 9781529764161: Such, Christopher: Books

A little information on clipping sounds can be found here: Letter Sound Pronunciation & The Importance of Clipping Sounds - Informed Literacy

Tips for Teachers youTube video featuring Christopher Such: https://youtu.be/03XZFaQyqJU

Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate UNITS of sounds (syllables, onset, rime, phonemes) in spoken language. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate the smallest unit of sounds and is one skill under the umbrella of phonological awareness. Dr. David Kilpatrick believes phonological awareness to be the single most important factor in differentiating struggling readers from successful ones. Today's episode explores phonological awareness development.

Resources for today's episode: 

Know Better, Do Better by Liben and Liben

Make Take & Teach

Reading Rockets Phonological and Phonemic Awareness

Teach Outside the Box

University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI)

Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR)

Literacy First PAST Assessment 

Dr. David Kilpatrick's PAST Test

We took a small break to prepare for our fall classes, but we are back! Today, we look at Natalie Wexler's take on reading infographics. 

Today, we are talking about our favorite reading strategies (also called "instructional routines") and why they are effective in helping students comprehend what they read. 

The three we are talking about today are the anticipation guide, verbatim split page procedure, and It Say--I Say--So. You can find the video on List-Group-Label that Sarah talks about here.

Here are a few places you can find other reading strategies to use with your kiddos: 

We wrap up our discussion of The Knowledge Gap by Natalie Wexler. 

This week, Sarah, Ingrid, and I used a T-Chart (T-Chart | Read Write Think) to track points in Natalie Wexler's book, The Knowledge Gap, that we agreed and disagreed with. For me, the T-Chart helped me realize there really was a whole lot more that I agreed with than I disagreed with, which surprised me. 

This week, we look at Emily Hanford and Natalie Wexler, two education journalists whose recent publications have impacted literacy education, and the repercussions those publications have had on the public's view of teaching reading in public schools.