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. …
Letter Sound Activities for Struggling Readers
As long as you avoid common letter sound teaching mistakes, many letter sound activities can be effective. Here are some fun letter sound activities: PLAYDOH IMPRINTS & LETTER SOUNDS Set …
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Teaching Letter Sounds & Tips to Avoid Common Mistakes
It's important to avoid common mistakes when teaching letter sounds. The most fundamental early literacy skill is letter sound knowledge. Letter sound knowledge is a requirement for reading and the …
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Diagnosing Dyslexia & Causes of Reading Failure
Diagnosing dyslexia is complicated, because there are other factors that can cause reading failure. Many children (up to 40%) show some signs of dyslexia, but not all are dyslexic. For example, there …
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What are the Signs of Dyslexia?
The signs of dyslexia are oftentimes missed. Dyslexia can look a lot like a memory deficit, ADHD or auditory processing disorder. Oftentimes, these can co-occur with dyslexia. At its core …
Overcoming Reading Difficulties
When a K-2 child is having reading difficulties, the problem usually lies in inadequate reading instruction or dyslexia (or both). Elephant in the room: a major problem or controversial issue that …
Phonics Books & Reading Elephant
I’m very excited to announce the release of my printable phonics books and my new site ReadingElephant.com Reading Elephant This is part one of a two-part post describing why I decided to name my …
What Are Early Literacy Skills?
Developing early literacy skills does not mean teaching an under five year old to read. Early literacy skills involve reading and talking to your child and (possibly) teaching letter sounds. SPEAKING …
Learning to Read & Dyslexic Students
The single most pervasive myth about learning how to read is that a struggling reader will eventually “catch on.” In fact, my most common client is a mid-second grade student who cannot read at all. …
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What is Phonemic Awareness?
When I get a new student, I immediately assess and start to develop his/her phonemic awareness. As I write about how the student is progressing in phonemic awareness, parents often ask perplexed …