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This Reading Mama

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Books This Reading Mama Likes

WORD STUDY & PHONICS:

Words Their Way by Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, & Johnston– This book is used by many classroom teachers and is very “meaty”.  It explains the research behind Word Study and has a plethora of ideas and activities for each of the spelling stages.  I was introduced to the value in this book when I took a course entitled Word Study under Dr. Francine Johnston (a co-author of the book).  I refer to it quite frequently when I tutor in reading as well.

Words Their Way supplements (I HIGHLY recommend).  Before these came along, preparing word sorts was a fairly daunting task.  Now it’s done for you.  (As a side note, I do find that sometimes I need to tweak them a bit to make them even more individualized, but overall, I was very excited when I discovered these!)

  • Words Their Way: Letter and Picture Sorts for Emergent Spellers
  • Words Their Way: Sorts for Letter-Name Alphabetic Spellers
  • Words Their Way: Sorts for Within Word Pattern Spellers
  • Words Their Way: Sorts for Syllables and Affixes Spellers
  • Words Their Way: Sorts for Derivational Relations Spellers

Phonics they Use: Words for Reading and Writing by Patricia Cunningham- this book has lots of phonics activities for younger and more established readers.  She emphasizes the point that readers look for patterns as they read.  A great compliment to Words Their Way.

READING (general):

Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt–a great resource to help a reading mama pick out “good” literature to read aloud

The Art of Teaching Reading by Lucy Calkins

What Really Matters for Struggling Readers by Richard L. Allington

COMPREHENSION:

Reading with Meaning by Debbie Miller-written from a classroom perspective, but has great ideas for teaching comprehension strategies to kids ages K-2nd grade.

Strategies that Work by Harvey & Goudvis-also written from a classroom perspective, but has comprehension strategies written for upper elementary (3rd-5th grades)

Mosaic of Thought by Ellin O Keene

Improving Comprehension Through Think-Aloud Strategies byJeffrey Wilhelm

Summarizing, Paraphrasing, & Retelling by Emily Kissner- more for upper elementary and middle school, I’ve adapted a lot of it for lower elementary in my tutoring

WRITING

The Art of Teaching Writing by Lucy Calkins

Writing Essentials by Regie Routman

Getting the Most Out of Morning Message and Other Shared Writing Lessons (Grades K-2)  by Payne and Schulman

Anything by Donald Graves!

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Hi! I’m Becky, a homeschooling mama with 4 blessings who keep me on my toes {and knees}. Before homeschooling, I was a classroom teacher (M.Ed.) and reading tutor. Read more about me here.

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