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October First Grade Parent Pack

September 2023 Group Coaching Call

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Calling all Matchbox Car fans… Or basically any anyone who loves fun learning.🤸‍♂️ This center makes practicing phonics & decoding skills a blast. But what makes it even better is that you can use it to work on any skills under the sun: digraphs, short vowel CVC words, blends, etc.

And speaking of brain-friendly teaching hacks, The Reading Roadmap only opens up twice a year and its officially go-time…

👉 Comment ROADMAP below if you’d like me to send over an invite! Doors close Sunday.

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Sometimes it’s the simplest things that pack the biggest learning punch. Case in point: spoon word families! 🚀 With just a few basic supplies, you can practice any phonics skill under the sun: beginning digraphs, middle vowels in CVC words… even word endings like -ING and -ED.

Wondering what phonics skill you should work on first? I’ll give you a quick phonics assessment that makes it easy to pinpoint exactly where students need to start inside my four week course called The Reading Roadmap. It only opens twice a year and the next round kicks off on Sunday!

👉 Comment ROADMAP down below if you’d like me to send you an invite!

#phonics #phonicsfun

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You’ve gotta’ add this phonics anchor chart to your collection! 🤸‍♂️ It’s a handy way to help students remember that the long O can be spelled with OW at the end of a word or OA in the middle.

Bonus tip: When long O comes at the end of a word, it can also be spelled with OE as in TOE, FOE, and JOE.

You’ll learn TONS of helpful phonics tips just like this one inside The Reading Roadmap. And I’ll give you the step-by-step lesson plans, centers, and decodable passages you need to actually practice them too!

Enrollment only opens twice a year and this round closes on Sunday so, if you have your eye on a spot, it’s go time.

👉 Comment ROADMAP below and I’ll send you an invite!

#phonics #anchorcharts

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📣 PSA: As fluent readers, our default setting is to focus on the letters we SEE in words instead of thinking about the sounds we HEAR. But when we’re practicing phonemic awareness with students (the most important foundational reading skill kids need), we have to turn that default off so we can correctly home in on the individual sounds we hear like this:

SHIP—> 4 letters but just 3 sounds /sh /i/ /p/

BOX—> 3 letters but 4 sounds /b/ /o/ /k/ /s/

👉 Share this to help other teachers too!

#phonemicawareness #phonologicalawareness

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Over the last 70 years, researchers, experts, and brain scientists have been pinpointing the best ways to teach reading so you can keep doing the things that work and stop doing the things that don't.

We finally have the information we need to teach reading smarter instead of harder...

But there's just ONE little catch:

You have to use it!

In today's world, teaching reading can be FAR easier than it has ever been before. You can start seeing big improvements very quickly.

But first, you need to figure out if the teaching tools and strategies you're using are actually brain-friendly...

So I pulled together a list of 27 curriculum red flags to make that step quick and easy for you.

👉 Comment LIST below and I’ll send the curriculum checklist over to you!

#scienceofreading #iteachprek #iteachk #iteachfirst

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Dollar Store literacy center coming in hot! 🔥 This activity is SO MUCH fun and you can use it to practice any word family under the sun: short vowels, long vowels, vowel teams, diphthongs, ending digraphs…

👉Make sure to save this so you can follow the step-by-step when you’re ready.

👉And tag a teacher friend who would love it too.💕

#scienceofreading #iteachkindergarten #iteachk #iteachprek #prekteacher #phonicsfun #phonics #readingteacher #thereadingroadmap #learningthroughplay #playfullearning #earlychildhoodeducation

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Magic E words for the win! 🤸‍♂️ This simple little phonics activity really does make those silent Es feel like magic for kids.

To set it up, take a paper towel and fold it in half.
Write a CVC word on the outside flap with a black Sharpie. Then lift the flap and write an E.

Fill a casserole dish with some water and have kids read the CVC word, drop the paper towel in water, and then read the new magic E word!

They’ll LOVE turning each short vowel sound into a long vowel. 👏

👉 Be sure to save this for inspiration!

#phonics #phonicsfun #kindergartenteacher #iteachk

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Knowing the step-by-step order to teach phonics skills is a lot like having an easy to follow recipe… You just need to follow it one step at a time!

That’s why I’m so excited to gift you the exact scope and sequence we use to teach phonics.

It’ll walk you through the very first letter sound all the way up through homophones and contractions. No. More. Guessing.👏

👉 Comment SCOPE below, and our friendly Plato-Bot will send you our free scope and sequence.

#phonics #scienceofreading

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Kids LOVE this quick & simple way to practice OO words!🥇 Just grab some Cheerios and have students add two Os to each word before reading it out loud.

Here’s a list to help you get started…

B__
C__L
M__N
T__L
M__
S__N
B__M
F__D
__PS
R__F
T__

If you’re in the free teacher challenge I’m doing this week, this activity would be perfect for step #5 of the “Perfect Phonics Recipe”.

And if you haven’t jumped in yet, it’s not too late!

👉Comment CHALLENGE below and I’ll have our friendly Plato-Bot send you the invite so you can jump right in.

#phonics #phonicsfun #phonicsforkids

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What do ya’ say we kick digraphs up a notch with a fun ghoulish twist?! 👻 And speaking of phonics teaching tips…

Tomorrow’s day #3 in our FREE 5-day teacher challenge, and I’ll be sharing my tried and true recipe for the “Perfect Phonics Lesson”. It just takes 15 minutes from start to finish and it checks allllll the brain-friendly boxes!🥳

👉 Comment CHALLENGE below and I’ll send you the invite.

#phonics #anchorcharts #anchorchart

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Comment CHALLENGE below and are friendly Plato-Bot will send you an invite to the *free* 5-day challenge I’m kicking off tomorrow! You’ll get everything you need to implement one of my favorite reading teacher hacks each day so at the end of the week, you can celebrate 5 quick and simple teaching breakthroughs that will knock your socks off. 🔥

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Comment CHALLENGE below and I’ll send over your invite!😘

#scienceofreading #phonics #phonemic awareness

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It’s important to know the best order for teaching phonics skills so you don’t accidentally skip 3 steps ahead…

Plus, knowing the step-by-step sequence makes it *so much* easier to help kids because you can quickly pinpoint where they are and jump right into teaching them the next skill on the list. 💪

NOTE: Researchers are still debating about the ideal order so sometimes you might see digraphs listed before blends and other times you’ll see blends before digraphs, for example…

That said, this is the recommended sequence I rely on:

1 Letter sounds
2 CVC short vowel word families
3 Digraphs
4 Blends
5 Magic E
6 Vowel teams
7 Diphthongs
8 R-influenced vowels
9 Word endings
10 Contractions
11 Homophones

Speaking of tips that make it a whooooole lot easier to teach reading, I’m kicking off a free 5-day challenge on Sunday and I’d love for you to join us!

I’ll give you one quick and simple teaching tweak each day for five days and at the end of it, you’ll be celebrating five massive reading breakthroughs.🤸‍♂️

👉Comment CHALLENGE below and I’ll have our friendly Plato-Bot send you the invite. (It’s free!)
 #phonicsfun #phonics #spelling #scienceofreading #scienceofreadinginaction #kinderteacher #prekteacher #firstgradeteacher

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Do you know the doubling rule yet? If a one syllable word ends with a short vowel and a consonant, double the consonant before adding the ending.

Here are some sample words to get you started:

ZIP—> ZIPPED—> ZIPPING
HOP—> HOPPED—> HOPPING
SKIP—> SKIPPED—> SKIPPING
TAP—> TAPPED—> TAPPING
STEP—> STEPPED—> STEPPING
GET—> GETTING
DRIP—> DRIPPED—> DRIPPING
HIT—> HITTING
ZAP—> ZAPPED—> ZAPPING
DROP—> DROPPED—> DROPPING

👉 What other words could we add to this list? Share one in the comments below so we can create a GIANT list of options to pick from.

👉 And be sure to save this so you can remember the words later!

#phonicsfun #logicofenglish #learningtoread #teachingreading

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One of my all-time favorites! Research has proven that music & movement help brains learn so I’m obsessed with this simple, brain-friendly C & K chant from Aaron Franklin.👏

To get kids up and moving, they could repeat the words as they march around the room, or hop up and down, or tap their fingers on the table like drumsticks…

There are tons of fun, active options!

And it’s the perfect compliment to this handy visual teaching kids that when the /k/ sound comes at the beginning of words, it’s spelled with a C if it’s followed by A, O, or U like in the word CAT…

But it’s spelled with a K if it’s followed by E or I like in the word KITE.

👉 Save this so you remember it later!

👉 And share it so other teachers can use it too.

#scienceofreading #spelling

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Here are all SIX types of phonemic awareness in one go-to spot!💥

1️⃣ PHONEME ISOLATION: identifying a specific sound in a word

2️⃣ PHONEME BLENDING: stringing together individual sounds to make a new word

3️⃣ PHONEME SEGMENTING: breaking apart the individual sounds in a word

4️⃣ PHONEME ADDITION: adding another sound to a word

5️⃣ PHONEME DELETION: taking away a sound from a word

6️⃣ PHONEME SUBSTITUTION: swapping out one sound in a word for another sound

👉 Save this so you can find it again quickly!

#phonemicawareness #scienceofreading #iteachprek #iteachk

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Word ladders have never been cooler! 😎 Make it extra fun to practice reading word families by adding a simple element of surprise so it feels more like a game than work. Here’s how to do it…

Write one word family on each word ladder, and then have kids place random consonants on every rung to build surprise words.

I used unifix letter cubes, but there are lots of options you can pick from! You can have kids grab alphabet magnets or Scrabble tiles, spin a letter wheel…

Just make sure that they are just pulling consonants.❤️

👉 Be sure to save this so you remember how to set it up!

#phonemicawareness #decoding #scienceofreadingteachers

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Soooo many sounds have multiple spelling options and it can be tricky to keep everything straight. 🤪 I hope this little vowel team chart helps it all click!

It's a great one to turn into an anchor chart for kids because, although there are exceptions to these rules, more often than not, they'll hold true.

👉 Be sure to save it so you can find it again!

#phonics #phonicsfun #scienceofreading

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Have you ever wondered why the words COULD & SHOULD have a silent L? Here’s the scoop…

When L comes after an A, O or U, it’s usually silent. For example…

HALF
SALMON
YOLK
FOLKS
WOULD
SHOULD

Like a lot of spelling and phonics rules, this one has some exceptions including HALO, BULK, SOLD, & FOLD but, more often than not, it’ll stay true.

👉 Be sure to save this so you have some go-to words to use when you teach it.

👉 And tag a teacher friend who would love teaching it to their kids too!❤️ #scienceofreading

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Playdough to Plato

3 days ago

Teaching reading doesn't have to be hard - especially in today's world.

There are MUCH easier ways to succeed without getting up at the crack of dawn, scrambling to find a way to "hopefully" help struggling readers catch up, or burning the candle and hustling hard just to survive the school day.

That's why I talk so much about the science of reading!

Think about it…

Over the last 70 years, researchers, experts, and brain scientists have been pinpointing the best ways to teach reading so you can keep doing the things that work and stop doing the things that don't.

We finally have the information we need to teach reading smarter instead of harder...

But there's just ONE little catch:

You have to use it!

In today's world, teaching reading can be FAR easier than it has ever been before. You can start seeing big improvements very quickly.

But first, you need to figure out if the teaching tools and strategies you're using are actually brain-friendly...

So I pulled together a list of 27 curriculum red flags to make that step quick and easy for you.

👉 Comment LIST below and I’ll send the curriculum checklist over to you!

#scienceofreading #iteachprek #iteachk #iteachfirst ... See MoreSee Less

First Grade

October First Grade Parent Pack

October at a Glance

Spelling Rule Posters

Phoneme Substitution Ladders

September 2023 Group Coaching Call

Digraph Sentence Pyramids

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