Having trouble finding printable short vowel books? Here’s a common complaint I hear: “I cannot find books low enough for my child to read! I’ve checked out all the beginning readers at the library. Even those are too hard for her. What do I do? This is hurting her confidence. It’s heartbreaking. Are there any […]
Archives for February 2017
5 Tips to Solve Reading Problems
Children with reading problems really want to know how to read. Before I could read, I remember wanting to know how. There was something strange and magical about silently staring at pages that “spoke.” Books told stories about everything, about people from places I’d never been, about fun things like magic pebbles and kids owning […]
Benefits of Phonemic Awareness Activities
Phonemic awareness (PA) is the ability to identify and manipulate or “play with” speech sounds. Phonemic awareness activities can be thought of as “sound training” that is linked to phonics. The benefits of phonemic awareness activities are undeniable. Students that receive “sound training” show tremendous gains in reading and even show some surprising benefits, like […]
Phonics Lesson Plans & Phonics Games
Effective phonics lesson plans include phonemic awareness activities—these are activities that involve playing with sounds. They are phonics games without print. As soon as a student starts working on letter sounds, he can begin phonemic awareness activities. WHAT IS PHONEMIC AWARENESS? All effective phonics lesson plans include phonemic awareness activities. What is phonemic awareness? Phonemic […]
Letter Sounds and Letter Shapes
Imagine being a beginning reader. Letters on the page are just scribbles, as if someone were doodling. Mom picks up a book and starts reading aloud, and you are amazed that these scribbles are a code. You want to know the code. It seems magical. These scribbles tell stories. Mom reads effortlessly, seemingly as fast […]