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Developing Phonemic Awareness Using Letters

Phonological sensitivity developed using oral language (such as syllable awareness, sensitivity to rhyming, awareness of alliteration, and awareness of onsite-rimes in spoken words) is an important part of emergent literacy skills for young children (ages 4-5) in preK and beginning kindergarten. They are precursors to phonemic awareness, which is the phonological task most related to learning to read and spell words in any alphabetic system (Ehri, 2004). Phonemic awareness is the ability to identify, blend, segment, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in words. This post highlights the importance of developing phonemic awareness using activities that include letters.

Joan Sedita | August 6, 2024 | 6 Comments

Writing Instruction Scope & Sequence

One of the hallmarks of an explicit, structured approach to teaching is to follow a logical sequence for teaching skills that progresses from basic to more complex, making sure prerequisite skills have been learned by checking for understanding before moving to the next step. This is often referred to as instruction that follows a scope and sequence. I am often asked to provide a scope and sequence for teaching writing, which is the topic of this post.

Joan Sedita | July 8, 2024 | 5 Comments

Connecting the Ropes: Integrating Reading & Writing Instruction

In general, there is a strong case to be made for integrating writing and reading instruction. The goal of this post is to highlight the numerous ways that the components of reading and writing overlap and make the case for integrating reading and writing instruction and practice within the same lesson whenever possible. This overlap will be explained by pointing out the similarities between two frameworks: Hollis Scarborough's Reading Rope (2001) and the Writing Rope framework that I developed in 2018.

Joan Sedita | May 31, 2024 | 3 Comments

Case Study: Bethlehem Area School District Extends Literacy Shifts into the Adolescent Level

Shauna Cotte | May 14, 2024 | 0 Comments

Phonics Instruction for English Learners

This post focuses on instruction of phonics for English learners. English learners benefit from the same explicit instruction of literacy skills, including phonics, as native English speakers, keeping in mind the special considerations of English learners regarding oral language proficiency, vocabulary and background knowledge, and attention to addressing new sounds (phonemes) of English. A structured literacy approach to teach phonics should be used: explicit, systematic, cumulative, and diagnostic.

Joan Sedita | May 7, 2024 | 4 Comments

Building Vocabulary: Semantic Feature Analysis

It is helpful for students to learn a new word by associating it with other related words. The related words can be words students already know or new words. Semantic feature analysis is an engaging activity that can be used to make associations.

Joan Sedita | April 4, 2024 | 0 Comments

You May Be Right, I May Be Crazy: MTSS and Tier I Instruction

This is a guest re-post of a blog recently written by Stephanie Stollar, founder of Stephanie Stollar Consulting and creator of The Reading Science Academy. Stephanie's message caught our eye -- she shares some important insights about issues related to implementing core literacy instruction for schools using a multi-tiered system of supports framework.

Stephanie Stollar | March 20, 2024 | 1 Comment

Planning Effective Writing Assignments

When assigning writing tasks, how often do you receive work that does not align with your expectations? One common issue is that students may lack a clear understanding of what is expected. Writing task directions are often too vague.

Joan Sedita | March 5, 2024 | 0 Comments

Teaching with “W” Questions

The "W" questions -- who, what, when, where, why, how -- are small but powerful words that can be used in a number of ways to develop early elementary students' literacy skills, including oral language and discussion skills, reading comprehension, and writing skills.

Joan Sedita | February 5, 2024 | 5 Comments

In Support of Main Idea and Comprehension Strategy Instruction

This post is focused on making the case for explicit instruction of comprehension strategies, including teaching students to identify and state main ideas. The growing awareness of the role of background knowledge in supporting reading comprehension has led some literacy professionals and journalists to proclaim that building background knowledge is the main solution to addressing students’ difficulties with reading comprehension. They posit that once students have learned decoding skills, having solid knowledge on the subject of the text is the key to comprehension; therefore, schools should spend less time on teaching comprehension strategies and more on teaching subjects such as science and social studies. In particular, they often identify teaching of main ideas as an instructional practice that should be abandoned. I disagree; students benefit from a combination of comprehension strategy band background knowledge instruction.

Joan Sedita | January 3, 2024 | 3 Comments

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