Word Sorting: The Low-Tech Phonics Strategy with Big Results
Among kindergarten teachers, word sorting holds a quiet kind of reverence. It asks for nothing more than a small pile of word cards and a child willing to look closely,…
As an educator, you play a crucial role in children’s literacy development! Effective phonics instruction lays the foundation kids need to become curious, lifelong learners in the classroom and the world beyond.
Whether you’re considering which phonics instruction methods work best or looking for ways to introduce difficult concepts to students, phonics.org is here to support you.
You’ve done your research. You understand that systematic synthetic phonics is a typical standard...
The Right to Read Act, introduced in Congress, is an effort by lawmakers to...
Maria’s kindergarten teacher noticed something puzzling. The bright five-year-old could identify every letter in...
It’s 3:30 on a Friday afternoon. Thirty exhausted teachers file into the library for...
Your third grader still struggles to decode simple words. Your English language learner confuses...
Imagine it: a child with Down syndrome proudly reading their favorite book aloud, pointing...
Your kindergartener rushes to the tablet each morning, eager to earn more badges in...
Your fourth grader breezes through simple stories but stumbles over science textbooks. She can...
Your child confidently identifies the letter M on Monday. By Wednesday, they stare at...
January brings fresh energy and clean slates. You’ve organized closets, cleared out old toys,...
Among kindergarten teachers, word sorting holds a quiet kind of reverence. It asks for nothing more than a small pile of word cards and a child willing to look closely,…
Most parents and teachers think of reading and writing as separate skills taught at different times of day. Reading comes first, the thinking goes, and writing follows once a child…
Walk into any kindergarten classroom, and you will see two very different books being handed to children learning to read. One says, “Sam can tap. Sam can nap.” The other…
When a child learns the short /a/ sound on Monday, blends CVC words on Tuesday, tackles digraphs on Wednesday, and then never returns to short /a/ again, something strange happens.…
Imagine handing a child a jigsaw puzzle with no picture on the box and no guidance about where to begin. A few kids might figure it out eventually, but most…
Here’s something that might surprise you: the order of a phonics lesson matters almost as much as the content inside it. A child who sits down for 20 minutes of…
Most parents only hear about reading problems when it’s already late in the game. A vague comment at a parent-teacher conference, a worrying score on a state test, a teacher…
Walk into any effective elementary classroom during literacy time, and you’ll likely see something that looks a bit like organized chaos. A teacher works intently with four students at a…
If your child’s school sent home a note about an upcoming “phonics screener,” you might have felt a flash of worry. Is it a test? Will my child pass or…
Your child has been learning letter sounds for weeks. They can tell you that “s” says /s/ and “a” says /a/ and “t” says /t/. Then you hand them a…
