So we asked our Intervention Insiders Community to give us feedback on what’s up with online intervention. And we received some really awesome questions. So we wanted to take this week to dive in and answer some of those questions.

What on earth are Red Words anyway? Sight words? High-frequency words?

For us, Red Words are phonetically irregular words. They are quite simply words that can't be sounded out. If you sound them out they come out all wrong. "Was" for example is a Red Word. If we sounded this word out based on syllable type (extra points for you if you knew it would be a closed syllable) you would get /w/ /a/ /s/ which would rhyme with gas. Makes sense right? But instead, we get a lazy/schwa vowel in there and get a short /u/ sound. So we just have to memorize these words for both reading and spelling.

Discover concrete strategies for improving nonfiction comprehension in older students, especially those with dyslexia. Learn how to navigate dense texts, decode information, and use text features effectively. Empower students to read to learn and gather information with confidence!