October 22, 2021

More Than the ABCs: The Consonant S

October 22, 2021/ Contributing Blogger

Welcome back! In a previous post, I showed you how to help students own the alphabet as more than just the ABCs. Each symbol or letter is a picture of sound. Our job is to teach kids how to attach the sound or sounds that each symbol represents. I introduced to you the three sounds of Vowel Aa. As promised, I will be teaching you about a consonant next…the Consonant Ss. Again, like last time, I print both the capital and lowercase letter Ss so that you won’t forget to make it a point to teach the sounds that way. Unlike the vowels, consonants stop

August 01, 2021

What is cyclical spelling?

August 01, 2021/ Contributing Blogger

Here’s an idea to kick your kids’ spelling prowess into high gear. While it’s true that some kids are just naturally good spellers, my experience has been that most are not. They need a sure-fire way to lock in accurate spelling. Let us introduce you to cyclical spelling. Here’s how it works:

March 19, 2021

Micro-comprehension: A Foundation of Words

March 19, 2021/ Contributing Blogger

In an earlier blog post, I pointed out that early reading might best focus on micro-comprehension strategies before exploring the macro-comprehension kinds of questions that are found in most reading programs. But why? To start with, a reader won’t have clear macro-comprehension without clear micro-comprehension. A deep and wide vocabulary makes the micro-comprehension much more accurate!

February 19, 2021

What is microcomprehension?

February 19, 2021/ Contributing Blogger

I read some information today about what’s missing in reading comprehension instruction, and the research that was provided jumped off of the page for me! I had to get used to some new terminology, but it all made perfect sense!

The article stated that the latest research in early literacy found that there is an extra step between decoding and comprehension that most of us don’t know about. They even had a name for the missing skill: microcomprehension.

In a nutshell, microcomprehension is

July 08, 2020

Summer Learning: It's time to try cyclical spelling!

July 08, 2020/ Contributing Blogger

Here’s an idea to kick your kids’ spelling prowess into high gear. While it’s true that some kids are just naturally good spellers, my experience has been that most are not. They need a sure-fire way to lock in accurate spelling, especially when summertime rolls around and school is out.

Cyclical spelling might just be for you and your kids. Here’s how it works: