alphabetic principle

Back to School: Getting to Know Your First Grade Readers

It’s Back to School time! Looking for some fun reading tips and activities your children will love? This post offers free printables that will make the first weeks of school a success for students and teachers! Essential Back to School Assessments for Early Readers Back to School is an exciting time for primary students! First…

Alphabetic Principle | Instruction

Why is the Alphabetic Principle Important?

This blog post is the second in a series on the Alphabetic Principle. Simply put, the alphabetic principle is the understanding that letters and letter groupings represent the sounds of spoken language. In order to read, students must know that letters represent sounds and when blended together, these sounds become words. What is the best…

What is a Closed Syllable and Why is it Important?

Teaching beginning readers about the closed syllable is an important first step in reading success. Kindergarten, First Grade, and emergent readers benefit from lessons that include explicit, systematic instruction of the syllable type, both in isolation and in connected text (decodable readers).

Alphabetic Principle | Beginning Readers | Emergent readers | Letter Names and Sounds

The Alphabetic Principle

A Cornerstone for Reading Success What is the Alphabetic Principle? Along with phonemic awareness (the ability to blend and segment the sounds in words), the alphabetic principle is essential for reading success. The alphabetic principle is the understanding that letters and letter patterns represent sounds in the spoken language.

Alphabetic Principle | Beginning Readers | Emergent readers | Letter Names and Sounds

Letter Sound Pronunciation & The Importance of Clipping Sounds

Helping Emergent Readers Pronounce Letter Sounds Correctly What do you mean by there’s a right way and a wrong way to pronounce letters?

Beginning Readers | Emergent readers | Fluency | Letter Names and Sounds

How to Use Fluency Grids to Support Emergent Readers

Developing Automatic Recognition of Letters and Sounds What are fluency grids? Fluency grids are a simple tool that provides targeted instruction for emergent readers. After careful analysis of a letter-sound assessment, the teacher can create a fluency grid with 2-6 letters requiring additional practice. When instructing emergent readers in letter/sound recognition (i.e. the alphabetic principle), the focus…