decoding

Back to School: Getting to Know Your Second and Third Grade Readers

Essential Assessments for Second and Third Grade Readers Second and third grade is where the ‘rubber meets the road,’ so to speak. Much of kindergarten and first grade reading instruction focuses on building phonological awareness skills and applying the alphabetic principle. Comprehension and vocabulary are addressed primarily through read aloud. In second and third grade, students are…

Beginning Readers | Decodable Books | Decodable texts | Emergent readers | Phonics

The Magic of Decodable Texts

Decodable Texts are a Powerful Tool What’s the big deal about decodable texts? Approximately 20% of the population is prone to a language based learning disability. For these learners, reading does not come ‘naturally’. To meet with reading success, repeated opportunities to practice code are non-negotiable. Systematic, sequential, and cumulative practice with the alphabetic…

Fluency | Instruction | Reading Intervention

Fluency Series Part 1: The Bridge from Decoding to Comprehension

Beyond the Need for Speed If someone would have asked us about fluency as brand new teachers, we might have responded with the notion that fluency is when a student reads with expression at a decent rate. While this is partially accurate, fluency is so much more than “a need for speed” and the…