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Teaching Phonemic Awareness

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Teaching phonemic awareness is an important daily part of structured literacy. The good news is that teaching phonemic awareness doesn’t need to take hours of instruction each day…and it can be pretty fun, too! You’ll like our Phonemic Awareness Lesson Plans & Printable Activities. What Exactly is Phonemic Awareness? In order to understand it, we must first talk about phonological…
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Why I’ve Shifted Away From Balanced Literacy

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The reasons I’ve shifted away from balanced literacy is a post that’s been a long time coming. There’s a good reason for that. It’s been a slow {and somewhat painful} journey.   You may enjoy our series on Structured Literacy Series or our Resources for Dyslexia Series. I was heavily trained in the ways of balanced literacy. Sure, I’ve always…
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Solve Word Problems with STEPS

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Being asked to solve word problems was the absolute bane of my existence when I was in school. I mean, what place do letters and words have in math anyway. {Can I get a witness?} And word problems are even more frustrating for kids who struggle with executive function skills or reading/reading comprehension. *This freebie can be found at the…
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What’s Wrong with the Three-Cueing System

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I used the three-cueing system for YEARS when I taught beginning and struggling readers using level readers. Even when I got my Masters in Reading, it wasn’t frowned upon. That was nearly 15 years ago, but the word on the street is that it’s still being taught to graduate students. Today, I want to talk about what we got wrong….
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12 FREE Figurative Language Posters

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Check out our 12 FREE Figurative Language Posters! Hang them on the wall to remind learners of the terms and their meanings. You might also like our Figurative Language Scavenger Hunt with free cards. *Snag these posters by scrolling to the bottom of this post. Then, click on the teal download button.   What is Figurative Language? Figurative language is…
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