Route2Reading
A step-by-step roadmap guides you through a reader's journey—at every level. This podcast was made for you if you're ready to, get clear on what structured literacy is and the science behind it. Join me to learn precisely what your struggling readers need and find ways to reach them.
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Developing Readers Academy with Megan & Laura
07/15/2024
Developing Readers Academy with Megan & Laura
All About Megan & Laura from Developing Readers Academy: Both taught in the same intervention room at a school in Minnesota. After looking at their end-of-the-year data, they realized their students simply were not making progress. Megan and Laura then went through LETRS and Orton Gillingham training to sharpen their skills. After that, they devoured every single SOR training and resource they could! When they implemented these practices, they instantly saw results in their intervention room. Megan and Laura wanted to ensure all kids were being given the resources that they need in order to be successful readers - not just the ones in their own small intervention room. So they started sharing ideas on Instagram and realized how fun it was to share structured literacy approaches and the magic of the science of reading. From there, Developing Readers Academy was born.
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Interview with Jake Daggett
07/01/2024
Interview with Jake Daggett
All About Jake Daggett: Began teaching in 2015 and mostly has taught in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade classrooms. Recently took a new role as Foundational Literacy Director at a school in Milwaukee. Loves sharing ideas about the science of reading, especially about how we can make it fun and engaging for students. Focuses on the rhythm and movement in literacy classrooms.
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Interview with Wiley Blevins
06/17/2024
Interview with Wiley Blevins
All About Wiley Blevins: Author, travel-lover, and expert in all things literacy. Comes from a history of grandparents who were illiterate - books were not a part of his everyday life. It was these limitations that encouraged him to perform well in school and learn to read. When he began teaching, he didn’t know how to teach reading, so he had to do his own mini studies in his classroom. This led him to graduate school at Harvard where he learned how children learned to read. His educational journey led him to work with and learn from people like Jeanne Chall, Marylin Adams, and Louisa Moats. With their expertise, he took their research and knowledge and applied it to his own classroom, made it practical, tested out nuances, and talked about how we can better help our students.
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Defining MTSS an Interview with Stephanie Stollar
03/27/2024
Defining MTSS an Interview with Stephanie Stollar
All About Dr. Stollar: Former Vice President for Professional Learning at Acadience Learning Inc. Part-time assistant professor in the online Reading Science Program at Mount St. Joseph University. Founding member of a national alliance for supporting reading science in higher education. Support educators to learn about and implement the science of reading. Consults and helps other teacher programs to align programs to reading research. Has an online membership community called The Reading Science Academy where she supports educators to learn about the science of reading and implement it in their various educational roles. What does MTSS stand for? MTSS: …stands for Multi-Tiered Systems of Support. …is first and foremost a framework for putting into place things that we know about reading research. …uses data to make decisions that allow schools to eliminate barriers to student reading success. For example, we know that reading problems can be prevented for the vast majority of students primarily through the way we teach reading for the first time in the classroom. Research also tells us there are effective ways to intervene for the students who have difficulty with reading. …is all about making decisions as a team at a variety of levels within schools (district, school, grade) that will allow the educational system to get all students reading. Everyone can become a reader, but they’re not going to do so with the same type or amount of instruction. …is made up of three tiers: Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3. These are tiers of instruction and intervention. …is set up to be a continuum of instructional supports that are available to every student from day one of kindergarten. It’s the school’s job to get the system of supports in place. Each school will have its own way of doing this - think of these tiers as customized to the needs of the school community, its students, and its resources. …and the science of reading aren’t separate - they’re joined together. They are not separate initiatives. Let’s think about MTSS as the delivery system for what’s in the reading research. ..is a model where each and every student is considered (from accelerated to struggling). Check Out Dr. Stollar: Website: Check out her MTSS course, plus her Reading Science Academy membership!: Instagram: readingscienceacademy YouTube: @readingscienceacademy Email: [email protected]
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Using Quick Checks to Monitor Progress
03/18/2024
Using Quick Checks to Monitor Progress
Let’s talk assessments and get straight to the point: We can’t have meaningful, effective instruction without assessments. If instruction is the sail of a boat, assessments are the winds that drive and guide it. Before we can teach effectively, we need to know the needs of our students as well as their capabilities. Let’s chat! Assessments are important because they: identify strengths and weaknesses Inform instruction track progress guide intervention support differentiation inform curriculum planning Tools and Resources Check out my for the best starting place! They are easy to use and, yep, you guessed it - quick! Check out my for free! My assesses both decoding and encoding. Also check out my . Remember that reading is not a race - it’s a journey. When we embrace ongoing assessments in our classroom as well as data-driven instruction, we can ensure that we are delivering the best possible instruction to our students - no matter where they are. Full show notes here!
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Choosing and Using a Scope and Sequence
02/19/2024
Choosing and Using a Scope and Sequence
The Importance of Phonics Instruction Phonics instruction, which teaches the relationship between sounds and letters, is a fundamental component of reading development. To ensure effective phonics instruction, teachers must follow a well-designed scope and sequence. When it comes to choosing or creating a phonics scope and sequence, there are many things we should consider. In this blog post, we’ll explore the importance of choosing and following a phonics scope and sequence by drawing insights from current research. Understanding the significance of this structured approach to phonics instruction can lead to improved reading outcomes for our students. So let’s dive in!
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How to Support Students with Dyslexia interview with Heather O'Donnell
02/05/2024
How to Support Students with Dyslexia interview with Heather O'Donnell
In this episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with Heather O'Donnell Former special education teacher who worked with kids with autism Dyslexia practitioner through Wilson Reading System Structured literacy dyslexia interventionist Started tutoring practice called New Paltz Multisensory in September 2018 Works with students not only with dyslexia but also with kids with special needs, autism, and children who are in self-contained classrooms. Passionate about reading and writing instruction and loves watching kids’ confidence soar
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Using Decodables Effectively
01/30/2024
Using Decodables Effectively
Even though I’m now a literacy coach, I too have been caught teaching with leveled readers! In my first-grade classroom, when my students came across an unknown word, I’d have them guess by looking at the picture or skipping the word. I was creating a classroom full of great guessers - not great readers. But as we always say here at Literacy Edventures - when you know better, you do better! I had a hunch this wasn’t the best approach, but I also didn’t know what else to do. That’s when these decodables entered my life and saved the day! Today, we will chat about decodable texts, what they are, who needs them, and how best to utilize them in the classroom.
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Tips and Tricks for Building Fluency
01/08/2024
Tips and Tricks for Building Fluency
Congrats! You’ve got students who can decode words effectively. This is half of the battle! Now for the other half: Are they efficient yet? This second part can take an ample amount of time, and students need plenty of practice building fluency. Fluency is so important because it bridges the gap from decoding to comprehension, especially in the foundational years. For our kindergarten through 2nd graders, developing fluency in reading, writing, and communication is crucial for future academic success. Today, I’m sharing some tips and tricks to help build fluency during these foundational years that you can walk away with and start tomorrow! Resources from Episode My Favorite Resources Regarding Fluency: My Favorite Books and Articles Regarding Fluency:
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Early Decoding: The Lesson Breakdown
12/30/2023
Early Decoding: The Lesson Breakdown
Wouldn’t it be wonderful that as soon as students knew their letter sounds and could blend phonemes, blending CVC words would be a breeze? We can dream, can’t we!? Sometimes it’s not always that simple. We still need to explicitly teach them how to put all of the reading pieces together. CVC instruction still needs to be systematic, logical, practiced in whole group and small group, and needs to follow a “gradual release” model - I Do, We Do, You Do. I’ve found that having a prerequisite list to word reading is super helpful when beginning to learn CVC words. I’m here to share that with you today, along with what it looks like to put CVC instruction into practice in a classroom setting.
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Letter Sound Dos and Don'ts
12/18/2023
Letter Sound Dos and Don'ts
These days, we’re often told what not to do while teaching reading, but what we’re often lacking is what we should replace those “don’t do” activities with. Well, I have a list of don’ts that are accompanied by a list of do’s when it comes to specifically teaching letter sounds More of What You Need: Check out my other two podcasts that compliment this one and give you more info on how to make your students masters of letter sounds:
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Tips and Tricks for Mastering Blends
11/27/2023
Tips and Tricks for Mastering Blends
I don’t know about you, but teaching blends can be tricky. Blends (also known as consonant blends) are two or three consonant sounds that appear together in a word without any vowel sounds in between. These are words like flip, stop, strip, help, desk and spring. When students begin learning blends, they struggle to hear both sounds at the beginning or at the end. They often leave out the second sound. This happens because they are so used to reading and writing CVC words and this shift makes it difficult. But it doesn’t have to be! That’s why today I am going to share with you a few ways that you can make blends stick for your students. No longer will you have to fear blends on your scope and sequence, because these tips and tricks will make them easy and fun!
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Five Ways to Boost Your Phonics Instruction
11/14/2023
Five Ways to Boost Your Phonics Instruction
"Phonics instruction should be an essential component of a comprehensive reading program to ensure that children develop strong foundational skills necessary for reading success." -National Reading Panel Report The Role of Phonics Instruction Phonics instruction plays a crucial role in developing strong reading skills in young learners. By teaching the relationship between sounds and letters, we can equip students with the necessary tools to decode words and comprehend texts. To ensure effective phonics instruction, it is essential to incorporate explicit and systematic teaching methods into our instruction. In this blog post, we will explore five powerful strategies that can boost phonics instruction and promote reading proficiency in your students.
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Tips and Tricks for Literacy Coaches
11/06/2023
Tips and Tricks for Literacy Coaches
Meet Chrissy Beltran Check her out! Website: Instagram: YouTube: Podcast: Courses: Three Moves Literacy Coaches Should Make at the Beginning of the Year The beginning of the year can be tough - there’s lots to do, lots of overwhelm, and the tasks ahead seem daunting. But it’s important to start it off right, because it can set the tone for the entire year. Below, Chrissy shares three tasks that literacy coaches can do to begin the year on the right foot. First things first: Chrissy states that it’s foundational to introduce your role as a literacy coach to teachers and staff and let them know what they can expect from you. Before these three steps, be sure to define your role within the school and in what ways you’ll be helping them.
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Cracking the Code to Decoding: Dr. Julia Lindsey
10/28/2023
Cracking the Code to Decoding: Dr. Julia Lindsey
Recap: In today’s podcast, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Julia Lindsey, author of Reading Above the Fray. Julia is a literacy expert and reading researcher. In this episode, she helps us bust some common myths about decodables.
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A Peek Inside One Second Grade Teacher’s Literacy Block
10/27/2023
A Peek Inside One Second Grade Teacher’s Literacy Block
Meet Kaylee McCaslin: Currently teaching second grade in Washington 9th year of teaching Our very own Literacy Edventures member! Reach out to her!: We love to feature all kinds of people here on the LE Podcast, and we feel that teachers who are still in the classroom are so important to hear from because they’re in the trenches with us. Today, we’re chatting with Kaylee about a “day in the life” in her amazing classroom!
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Building Background Knowledge with Michelle Sullivan
10/18/2023
Building Background Knowledge with Michelle Sullivan
Show Notes: Michelle Sullivan, a literacy coach in New Jersey talks with listeners all about background knowledge. She shares what it is, why it’s important, and five ways we can easily implement it in our classrooms.
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Seven Mighty Moves with Lindsay Kemeny
10/16/2023
Seven Mighty Moves with Lindsay Kemeny
Meet Lindsay Kemeny: Currently teaching first grade Once a kinder teacher who taught balanced literacy, she went on a quest to find out what it really meant to teach reading when her son was diagnosed with dyslexia and depression. Author of Seven Mighty Moves Check her out! Website: Podcast: Instagram: Facebook: Book:
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Success With Letter Sounds
09/10/2023
Success With Letter Sounds
Automaticity of letter names and sounds is important because letter-sound correspondences are the foundation to phonics and decoding. So the quicker they are, the faster they can decode. When we help students connect the letters and sounds and help them both master and be automatic, we’re giving them a strong reading foundation.
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Using Assessment to Drive Your Instruction
08/21/2023
Using Assessment to Drive Your Instruction
One common question that’s always asked when talking about the science of reading is, “Where do I start my instruction? What do my students need?” The answer lies in assessments. Four aspects to keep in mind when choosing assessments: Each assessment serves a different purpose. The assessments we are using need to be closely linked to our instruction and should be the driving force behind our instruction. The data from these assessments must answer the questions we have about our students and those questions must drive our instruction. It’s absolutely vital that the assessments you’re choosing are at the developmental abilities of the students so that the data can reflect their areas of strength and weakness. We need to be informed of what assessments are out there and how each one can help us in different ways.
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The Power of Dictation
07/04/2023
The Power of Dictation
Dictation and its Importance: What Is Dictation: Dictation is an activity that provides students the opportunity to spell phonics patterns that they are currently focusing on, as well as the opportunity to practice previously-taught skills. What it Is Important: When students practice dictation, they’re connecting sound to symbol. Many studies show that when students practice these letter-sound relationships, students excel. Dictation is a great way to practice this. Reading and writing go hand-in-hand, and once you incorporate dictation into your lessons, you’ll find quicker student success!
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Tips for Building Fluency with Sarah Paul
06/18/2023
Tips for Building Fluency with Sarah Paul
Full Show Notes Here The other day, I had the pleasure of sitting down with the one and only Sarah Paul, the mastermind behind Sarah’s Teaching Snippets. She’s a current reading interventionist for K-3rd and a prior first-grade teacher. As with many of the experts on my podcast, she too was a balanced literacy teacher who found that her students were struggling to read and wasn't sure why. So, she set out on her own science of reading journey in order to learn more about how kids really learn to read. Through this, Sarah’s Teaching Snippets was born and now she helps educators teach reading the right way. Where to Find Sarah: Blog - YouTube Channel - Instagram - Today, we’re asking Sarah all of our fluency questions and getting some awesome answers. Through this conversation, we chat about what exactly fluency is, how we can help our kids achieve fluency, and the importance of it.
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Cumulative Review with Savannah Campbell
06/05/2023
Cumulative Review with Savannah Campbell
Savannah Campbell shares all about the importance of cumulative review! Cumulative Review: Cumulative review is simply giving children enough practice in the skills that we have taught them, so they are able to read to automaticity. We do a great job teaching the “skills” from day to day, but what we don’t do is give them multiple opportunities to practice. Automaticity is a precursor to reading comprehension. We have to practice these skills 4-6 weeks after we have taught them. Connect with Savannah: Resources for Cumulative Review: Sound Decks Dictation Helpers
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How Phonics Instruction Supports Comprehension
05/23/2023
How Phonics Instruction Supports Comprehension
Many of us hear the words “science of reading” and automatically assume it’s just about phonics. While phonics is an essential part of learning to read - it’s not the only thing. Let’s take a look at how phonics is related to another very important aspect of reading: comprehension. Additional Resources & References: Resources: Blog Posts:
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Orthographic Mapping: Preparing the Brain to Read with Jessica Farmer
05/09/2023
Orthographic Mapping: Preparing the Brain to Read with Jessica Farmer
All About Jessica: Former elementary school teacher for 13 years, mostly in 1st grade Certified in reading grades K-12 Jessica learned about the science of reading in 2019 and although her heart sank with guilt at how she was initially teaching her students, she began to read and learn all she could about the science of reading. Fast forward and she’s now sharing Tik Tok phonics videos that help both teachers and parents learn about phonics so they can best teach their students and kids! Connect with Jessica Farmer: All About Orthographic Mapping: Orthographic Mapping is NOT an activity - it’s something that happens in our brain. Our brain is not hard-wired to read. Because of this, we must create pathways and roads that help our brains learn how to read. Orthographic Mapping pathways look a little like this:
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Choosing the Right Phonics Activities
04/25/2023
Choosing the Right Phonics Activities
When we sit down to plan our small group time, we must keep the end goal of phonics in mind: we want to produce strong decoders and strong writers. When students are strong in decoding, they can become fluent. And when they become fluent, they can comprehend - that is our ultimate goal! I’ve put together a checklist of six things to keep in mind when choosing the right activities for your small group time. Resources: Blog Posts:
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Phonics: Do's and Don'ts
04/10/2023
Phonics: Do's and Don'ts
With all of the rules out there on how to teach phonics, it can all feel overwhelming. I’ve put together a reference of Do’s and Don’t’s when it comes to teaching phonics so you can feel confident in your instruction. Additional Resources & References: Blog Posts:
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Phonics Lesson in Action: Part Two
03/27/2023
Phonics Lesson in Action: Part Two
Full Show Notes Here We know that small group time is so important. We have a group of students who have a need, and we want to be the ones to meet it! Take a look at Part 2 of our phonics lesson to learn how. Helpful Phonics Resources: phonics instruction with the science of reading in mind. Learn how to teach systematic and explicit phonics instruction. focus on letter sounds and phonemic awareness, be equipped with tools you’ll use in your small group lessons that will encourage phonics and decoding includes a scope and sequence, blank templates, phonemic awareness warm-ups, drill cards, sentence pyramids, and so, so much more. Blog Posts:
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Phonics Lesson in Action: Part One
03/13/2023
Phonics Lesson in Action: Part One
When preparing a phonics lesson, we need to be sure we’re conducting it in three parts: a warm-up, explicit teaching, and application of skills. Below, you’ll find the first part of the lesson (the warm-up) and its four parts: a visual drill, an auditory drill, a blending drill, and a vowel intensive. Helpful Phonics Resources: phonics instruction with the science of reading in mind. Learn how to teach systematic and explicit phonics instruction. focus on letter sounds and phonemic awareness, and be equipped with tools you’ll use in your small group lessons that will encourage phonics and decoding includes a scope and sequence, blank templates, phonemic awareness warm-ups, drill cards, sentence pyramids, and so, so much more. Blog Posts:
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What the Science Says About Phonics Instruction
02/27/2023
What the Science Says About Phonics Instruction
Wondering how to ensure your phonics time is effective? Here’s a quick look at what solid phonics instruction looks like, plus a little lesson in how our brain reads words. FIRST, WHAT IS PHONICS?: Phonics is the connection between sounds of spoken words and the individual letters or groups of letters that make up that word. Solid phonics instruction is so important because it is a key contributor to future reading success. This process is nuanced and complex as it happens in our brains WHERE CAN I FIND RESOURCES TO HELP ME? phonics instruction with the science of reading in mind. Learn how to teach systematic and explicit phonics instruction. focus on letter sounds and phonemic awareness, and be equipped with tools you’ll use in your small group lessons that will encourage phonics and decoding includes a scope and sequence, blank templates, phonemic awareness warm-ups, drill cards, sentence pyramids, and so, so much more. Blog Posts:
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