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Using Dingoes at Dinnertime in a SOR-Aligned Lesson
Have your students ever struggled to apply explicitly taught strategies to reading chapter books?
Have you ever struggled to keep your students motivated and engaged in your literacy instruction?
If so you are not alone!
One of the best strategies to help your students apply strategies while keeping them motivated and engaged is to build a structured and systematic SOR-aligned lesson and pair it with a chapter book.
The 4 Forgotten Fluency Skills
Rate and accuracy are definitely both components of fluency. However, fluency is so much more than that and there are few fluency skills that get way less attention (but are just as important!) Keep reading to find out what they are.
Reading Is Hard - Understanding the Bases of Literacy
Over the last few decades, there has been a lot of research done that helps us understand the brain, how we learn to read, and how we, as educators, can best teach reading. This movement is known as the Science of Reading.
This research has helped us recognize the necessary components of a reading & writing lesson, but, it can feel like a lot to dig through! In this blog, we discuss a few of the common research models and explain how they overlap to support truly effective reading (and writing!) instruction.
The Best Strategy to Develop Vocabulary Knowledge
When it comes to vocabulary instruction, rote memorization of definitions has been the go-to strategy for students for a looooooong time. While this flashcard strategy can be an effective way to learn new words, it ultimately isn't effective for long-term retention. We’ve found a strategy that can easily be incorporated into your existing literacy lessons to support vocabulary development and comprehension. Curious? Click here to learn more.
How to Know if a Summer Side Hustle is Right for Me?
Is a side hustle right for me? We see this question all of the time. Click through for more information on how to decide whether or not a side hustle is right for you!
Why Running Summer Groups Will Be The Best Thing You Do This Summer
Running summer groups was one of the best decisions for us and we know it can be for you too! Click through to learn the 3 reasons why running summer groups will be the best thing you do this year!
How to Make Extra Money as a Teacher This Summer
As the summer rolls near you may be thinking about ways to earn some extra money. The great news - you have an incredible skill set that is extremely valuable. Keep reading to learn more about how you can use your skill set to make extra money this summer!
How to Develop Early Literacy Skills Through Read Alouds
Is there anything better than a great read-aloud when developing early literacy skills?
We think not!
One of the questions we get often is, “How do I align my read-aloud with the Science of Reading?”
Keep reading to learn more!
How To Use Your Students’ Interests to Improve Their Literacy Skills
Raise your hand if you've ever been told that your literacy instruction is boring. 🙋♀️ If you're raising your hand - you're definitely not alone.
It can be difficult to teach these skills to students in a way that feels engaging and exciting because let's face it - the skills that we have to teach aren't very exciting. Luckily, there is a solution.
By putting lessons together in a way that focuses on students' interests, you can absolutely change the game in your literacy instruction. Keep reading to learn our step-by-step process for putting these lessons together.
How to Systematically Review Previously Learned Material
As students progress through reading instruction and learn harder skills, it is imperative that we review previously learned concepts with them too. Without systematic review, we risk students losing previously mastered skills. Read on to see how we systematically review with our students - these strategies have made a huge difference for us!
The Ultimate Teacher Gift Guide!
Hi friends,
It’s that time of year again! The time of year where people are looking to show appreciation to the teachers in their lives. Instead of yet another gift card, get them something they really need this year!
This blog breaks down our TOP TEN teacher gifts your child’s teachers or your colleagues are SURE to love.
10 Must Haves for Orton-Gillingham Intervention
So I don't know about all of you, but when I started out delivering OG intervention I was trying to figure what supplies and materials I absolutely needed for my classroom and small group intervention. I knew I would need writing materials, reading supplies, games, activities, word lists, the list went on and on. We’ve put together a list of Orton-Gillingham necessities to help make your life a little easier!
How to Use Authentic Text in Your Structured Literacy Lessons
Have you ever heard your students say - “…the reading we do with you isn’t real reading.”
You’ve taught them all the phonics patterns. You’ve worked through all of the fluency passages and PA drills. And yet, students aren’t generalizing their knowledge. They’re struggling to see the relevance of the work you’re doing.
We’ve definitely been there before too. Now, we are sharing how we use authentic texts in our structured literacy lessons to help make lessons feel more like “real” reading for students.
How to Organize Your Literacy Worksheets
Is there anything worse than combing through piles of worksheets to find the ONE you’re looking for?
As a part of our organizational series, this week we are sharing our process for keeping all of our worksheets & full-page activities organized! Keep reading to learn our top 3 tips for keeping worksheets organized!
How to Organize Your Literacy Task Cards
Have you ever found yourself rifling through a drawer full of task cards, looking for the set that you need, only to pull out torn pages and crumpled, incomplete sets? We get it - we’ve been there too! Keep reading to learn more about the system we use to keep all of our task cards, flashcards, and review games organized.
How to Organize Your Small Group Literacy Materials
Our goal for the year was to organize all of our materials and we’ve been making good progress! One of the spaces that has felt the most successful has been our small group tables. So, we thought we’d share our organizational system with you!
How to Organize Your Classroom Walls: Getting the Most Value Out of Your Visual Aids
All over Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok - there are thousands of classrooms and reading intervention rooms that look like they are straight out of a magazine.
It’s easy to scroll through these pictures/videos and feel like your room needs to look like the inside of the Container Store. While there is something to be said about being in an organized space that brings you joy, our end goal is tying beauty with functionality.
In this blog, we’re sharing how you can optimize your wall space to support your students’ literacy development. Keep reading to learn more!