Student Listening and Attention Boot Camp
Do you need a little classroom management pick-me-up for your first week in January? A common thread I have heard a LOT this year is…
B and D Reversals Solved!
After watching many of my students struggle with b and d reversals/confusion for years, I knew that I needed to offer some solutions. It would…
Confident Teachers | Dyslexia | Orton Gillingnham | Reading Intervention | Rethinking Literacy | Spelling | Structured literacy | The Science of Reading
Rethinking Heart Words!
This month we want to revisit Heart Word/ Red Words/ Irregular Words (whatever you’d like to call them!) The Orton Gillingham community has re-evaluated how to teach irregular words. This new way brings success to more students and creates more background knowledge about how language works. After doing this word analysis with students, I am convinced! Let’s take a look at 3 shifts for Heart Word Instruction.
Parent Teacher Conference Tips & Tricks
Can we talk about Parent-Teacher Conferences?
It’s a stressful time to be a teacher. And, it’s a stressful time to be a parent. It’s parent-teacher conference time!
After 20 years of teaching and 20 years of parenting  my own school-age children, I’ve sat though my share of parent-teacher conferences.  These are a few of my tried and true my tips, insights, and parent-teacher conference resources.
Increasing Student Motivation & Engagement in Structured Literacy
For several years I have been striving to provide explicit, structured literacy instruction to intermediate, striving readers. I have had many successes and just as many failures. I then made one change that has made all the difference. It wasn’t a costly program or fancy resources. Do you want to know what made the most impact? It was simply telling students about the science of reading and their own data-driven instruction!
Confident Teachers | Rethinking Literacy | Structured literacy | The Science of Reading | Uncategorized
6 Steps to Begin a School-Wide Science of Reading Journey
The Revolution has begun. There is no longer a real debate about the Reading Wars. Research has shown us how reading occurs in the brain,…
Confident Teachers | Dyslexia | Orton Gillingnham | Reading Intervention | Rethinking Literacy | Structured literacy | The Science of Reading | Uncategorized
Orton Gillingham Material Must-Haves
There are so many incredible instructional resources and ideas out there. We have narrowed it down to our FAVORITE 15!
Reading Intervention | Rethinking Literacy | Structured literacy | The Science of Reading | Uncategorized
Advanced Phonics Plan for Success
How to Level Up Phonics Instruction for Older Students There are literally thousands of resources for teaching primary students foundational reading skills. I love that…
Teaching Prefixes and Suffixes: Morphology Matters!
What is MORPHOLOGY and Why Does it Matter? I was recently working with a group of 4th graders on decoding and spelling 3+ syllable words,…
It’s All About The Vowels
Vowels tend to be the most complicated and mysterious letters. Yet decoding, spelling, syllabication, and pronunciation are all dependent on the vowels in a word. …
