Y as a vowel in English is more common than you might think. In fact, y spells vowel sounds more than it spells a consonant sound. Y often spells the long i and long e sounds, and it can spell the short i sound as well. In fact, y spells a vowel sound in 2041 words while it spells the…
Teaching students when to use ch or tch can seem tricky. Is there a simple, clear phonics rule? Today we’ll look at how to know when to use tch vs ch and how to teach this to your students. This is post 17 in my series Phonics Rules for Teachers (and How the Heck to Teach ‘Em). If you’d like to…
Encoding and decoding are two connected but different skills. While both of these skills are important, understanding the difference between the two is crucial to good literacy instruction. If you can pinpoint whether a struggling student need to work on their encoding or decoding skills, you can better target your phonics, reading, and writing instruction. Let’s examine what encoding and…
Many students in the primary grades struggle with writing stories and reading with fluency. When I noticed that my first graders had mastered writing a good, basic sentence, but couldn’t string a few together, I knew a needed to find a solution. They also needed to work on their reading fluency, so I decided to solve both problems at once:…
Reading centers are an important part of your literacy instruction because it gives you time to target key skills with students. It also allows students to make some choices in their own practice and learning. Knowing how to set up reading centers in a way that is simple for you and engaging for students will set you up for a…