Dear Reader, Last week, we talked about why handwriting still matters, even in a world of keyboards, tablets, and speech-to-text, and I promised I'd share more of what I'm learning in my dysgraphia workshop. Well, here's something that's been on my mind lately: How many times have you told a student to slow down and write more neatly? Or heard someone say: "He CAN write neatly when he wants to. He just needs to take his time!" Sound familiar? Well, here's the thing: Being able to form letters...
14 days ago • 3 min read
Dear Reader, A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about why spelling still matters in a world of spellcheck, speech-to-text, and AI. Well, apparently I’m on a mission to defend all the old-fashioned things…because today I want to talk about handwriting. 😂 We have keyboards. We have tablets. We have speech-to-text. So does handwriting really matter anymore? Yes, of COURSE it does! 💯 And here's why: Handwriting is not about beautiful penmanship or perfect letter formation. It’s about automaticity and...
21 days ago • 3 min read
Dear Reader, I've heard this more times than I can count: “Does spelling really matter anymore? We have spellcheck!” Believe me, I get it. Our students have spellcheck, predictive text, speech-to-text, Grammarly, and (dare I say it??) AI. 🤖 So why spend precious instructional time teaching them how to spell? Because spelling is about MUCH more than getting words right on paper. As you probably already know, reading and spelling are actually two sides of the same coin. When students learn to...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Dear Reader, I don't know about you, but where I live, Fall is definitely in the air! 🍁 I managed to squeeze in a quick walk this morning between rain showers, and I stumbled up on a conker tree. (If you don't have these where you live, see the picture below!) I can't resist picking these up when I find them, and I always have a bowl in my house every autumn. Bonus: I've heard they repel spiders, but I don't know for sure if that's true. 🕷️ I just like them because they're pretty... As I...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, Let's say you're reading a passage with a student. They stumble over a tricky word, so you use the little routine I mentioned last week... 👉 Read it → Decode it → Map it → Spell it → Read it again! Success! 🎉 So then you move on. Not so fast! There's one more step I try not to skip: Put the word back into meaningful context. After we've worked through it, I have the student go back and read: ✅ the word ✅ the phrase✅ the whole sentence Why? Because ultimately, our goal isn't for...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, If you've been following Science of Reading discussions lately, you've probably heard the word syntax thrown around. If your immediate reaction is, “Ummm...I vaguely remember learning about that in high school English?” 😬 – you're definitely not alone. But don’t worry! Syntax practice doesn't have to be complicated. At its simplest, syntax instruction helps kids understand how words and groups of words work together to make meaningful sentences. You can start doing that with...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Dear Reader, You've been working on short I, doing your drills, mapping the words, decoding, encoding... and your student just read a list of Short I words accurately. Great! 🎉 Now what? It's tempting to check off the skill and move on. But accurate word reading is really just the first step toward fluent reading. Before introducing something new, try taking those same words and gradually increasing the reading challenge: WORDS ➡️ PHRASES ➡️ SENTENCES ➡️ CONNECTED TEXT Why? Each step asks the...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Dear Reader, Yesterday I shared one of my favorite routines for turning a missed word into decoding + spelling + fluency practice. I'm glad so many of you found it helpful! Today I wanted to share one more very simple way I build fluency practice into my lessons because it takes almost no extra planning. ✅ Start with a quick fluency check. At the beginning of a session, I'll often pull out a short word-reading activity targeting a skill the student has already learned. I'm not teaching...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, Yesterday I wrote about one of those frustrating reading moments: A student reads a word correctly on a phonics drill...and then stumbles over that exact same word when it shows up in a sentence. 😩 This happens all the time, because being able to decode a word accurately doesn't necessarily mean that word—or the phonics pattern in it—is automatic yet. And for many of our struggling readers, that automaticity takes a LOT of repetition. But here's the good news: working toward...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Dear Reader, Have you ever had a student who can read a word perfectly well on a phonics drill...but then stumbles over that exact same word two minutes later in a sentence? 😩 I see this ALL THE TIME! And it makes sense. Learning to decode a phonics pattern accurately is an important first step, but accuracy isn't the same thing as automaticity. Our students (especially those who struggle with reading) often need many more opportunities to retrieve and apply a pattern before they can...
2 months ago • 2 min read