Decoding Vowels
The vowels are ‘a’, ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘o’, ‘u’ and sometimes ‘y’ acts as a vowel (‘y’ acts as a vowel when it sounds like a vowel – sunny, sky, pyramid). A short vowel is the basic common sound given to … Continued
The Power of Poems
Word recognition and reading fluency are essential skills for reading competency and both of these factors influence comprehension. Poetry is a writing form that is infrequently used in the teaching of reading and yet it is well suited for teaching … Continued
Stolen Sentences
This is a really simple idea for helping students develop more interesting and complex sentences. Make a pile of strips of paper and coloured markers readily available. As you read stories aloud, encourage students to note sentences that ‘speak to … Continued
Seven Keys to Explanations
In his book, How To Explain Absolutely Anything to Absolutely Anyone: The art and science of teacher explanation, Andy Tharby suggests that there are 7 keys to effective explanations: 1. Strong subject knowledge Teachers need to be able to understand … Continued
Reading Difficult Text: It’s OK to struggle
How do you help students who are struggling to read classroom texts while preventing them from becoming disengaged? Should we be providing these students with easier texts to facilitate comprehension and learning or should we be helping students read these … Continued