This week, we are taking a look at how we can best support students who struggle with word recognition (or sounding words out for reading & spelling).

Research tells us that between 70-80% of students who are struggling with reading specifically struggle with word recognition. In order for these students to read effectively, it is critical that we are able to teach them how to decode and encode. Keep reading to learn how we support this group of students and grab some of our favorite resources!

When we think about reading instruction, there are a few different style texts that we can use to support fluency and comprehension. Often, we hear about things like decodable texts, predictable readers, controlled vocabulary readers, language experience stories, authentic literature, and noncontrolled texts.

With so many different styles, it can be challenging to know which to use when. There are champions for many different styles and you may have heard pros and cons for one style versus another. Today, we are going to take a look at two of the styles we hear about most often - decodable vs. non-controlled text.

Phonological awareness is one of those tasks that many feel is a skill that only primary teachers need to address.

However, for many students who struggle to read or spell with accuracy - a phonological processing issue is at the heart of it.

This means that we need to be explicitly teaching phonological awareness skills until they’re mastered. Now that being said - we need to be thoughtful and strategic in HOW we are doing this.

Check out this week’s intervention tip of the week to learn about how we differentiate for

This week we are talking all about how to effectively measure a student’s phonological awareness ability to track growth over time. It is important that we are monitoring a student’s phonological awareness because it is the foundation of the 5 Core Components of Literacy and must be in place before a student can read and spell with ease!

Phonological awareness is a key foundation for building early reading skills.

It's an umbrella term that essentially refers to the ability to break words into individual sounds, blend sounds to create words (sounding it out), and the ability to manipulate sounds in our language through tasks like rhyming, changing the ending sounds of words or the order of words (like in Pig Latin).

Enhance comprehension beyond simple questions! Learn how to foster deeper understanding through implicit and explicit questioning, vocabulary development, and strategic instruction. Explore methods like Webb’s Depth of Knowledge model and assessment tools to drive meaningful comprehension goals.

Discover the 4 common reasons for breakdowns in reading comprehension! Learn how weak decoding skills, limited background knowledge, inadequate vocabulary, and poorly developed strategies hinder understanding. Explore our blog for effective comprehension strategies and free resources.