In this post, I share 5 simple things you can do to get students to engage with your classroom sound wall.  I’ll share simple instructional routines you can implement, sound wall games, and a special sound wall chant with lyrics you can download. All of these things are sure to keep your kindergarten, first and second-grade students excited about using… Read More

This is the third post in a blog series on the SoR 90-Minute Literacy Block.  It focuses on whole group word recognition instruction for kindergarten, first and second grade students. In the post, I provide a schedule for your whole group instruction and identify specific literacy skills to teach during this time.  Finally, I offer a list of science of… Read More

In this post, I answer the question “What is phonemic awareness?” and explain how is it different from phonics instruction.  I share details about my science of reading-aligned phonemic awareness lesson plans for kindergarten and first-grade students, a resource that has ALL you need to bring effective, data-driven, small-group phonemic awareness instruction to your classroom. Be sure to download the… Read More

In this post, I offer a 90-minute literacy block schedule aligned to the Science of Reading and can be used in kindergarten, first and second-grade classrooms.  The SoR-aligned literacy block is broken up into whole group word recognition instruction, small group instruction, and whole group language comprehension.  I explain what skills should be taught in each part of the literacy block… Read More