Route2Reading – Details, episodes & analysis

All About Meghan Hein:

• Proudly been in education for 20 years with jobs as a 2nd grade teacher as well as a math coach.

• Eventually transitioned into a literacy intervention teacher and served there for 5 years.

• She’s now back in the classroom using the skills and knowledge she learned as a literacy interventionist.

FULL SHOW NOTES HERE

The Complexity of Letter Formation

• Letter formation is the foundation for literacy development. This is because practicing letter formation helps students with shapes and sounds of letters, which is important for foundational reading skills.  

• Students also need fine motor skills in order to accomplish appropriate letter formation.  Good letter formation needs good fine motor skills.

• Writing by hand engages the parts of the brain that enhance memory and learning.  When students are writing the letter and saying the sound, we’re helping them make the sounds stick.  

• One study found a significant correlation between letter recognition and handwriting fluency in students who were practicing their letter formation and had handwriting fluency.  This proves that children who practice writing letters become more familiar with their shapes and sounds.

• Another study showed that explicit instruction in letter formation is effective.  As educators, we need to guide students through the correct strokes, use correct visual aids, and even teach students chants so they can understand how to write each letter. 

FULL SHOW NOTES HERE

In this episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with Heather O'Donnell

• Former special education teacher who worked with kids with autism

• Dyslexia practitioner through Wilson Reading System

• Structured literacy dyslexia interventionist

• Started tutoring practice called New Paltz Multisensory in September 2018

  • Works with students not only with dyslexia but also with kids with special needs, autism, and children who are in self-contained classrooms.

• Passionate about reading and writing instruction and loves watching kids’ confidence soar

Full Show Notes Here

Even though I’m now a literacy coach, I too have been caught teaching with leveled readers!  In my first-grade classroom, when my students came across an unknown word, I’d have them guess by looking at the picture or skipping the word.   I was creating a classroom full of great guessers - not great readers.  But as we always say here at Literacy Edventures - when you know better, you do better!

I had a hunch this wasn’t the best approach, but I also didn’t know what else to do.  That’s when these decodables entered my life and saved the day!  Today, we will chat about decodable texts, what they are, who needs them, and how best to utilize them in the classroom.

Full Show Notes

          Congrats!  You’ve got students who can decode words effectively.  This is half of the battle!  Now for the other half: Are they efficient yet?  This second part can take an ample amount of time, and students need plenty of practice building fluency.  Fluency is so important because it bridges the gap from decoding to comprehension, especially in the foundational years.  For our kindergarten through 2nd graders, developing fluency in reading, writing, and communication is crucial for future academic success.  Today, I’m sharing some tips and tricks to help build fluency during these foundational years that you can walk away with and start tomorrow!

 FULL SHOW NOTES HERE

Resources from Episode

My Favorite Resources Regarding Fluency:

Scooping Phrases (FREE)

Fluency Builders

...and MORE!

My Favorite Books and Articles Regarding Fluency:

Rasinski, T. V. (2020). The importance of fluency instruction in the early grades.

Chard, D. J., & Pikulski, J. J. (2005). Developing fluency: Theory, research, and practice.

Gambrell, L. B., & Morrow, L. M. (2017). Best practices in fluency instruction for early readers.

Allington, R. L., & McGill-Franzen, A. (2016). Fluency: Still waiting after all these years.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful that as soon as students knew their letter sounds and could blend phonemes, blending CVC words would be a breeze?  We can dream, can’t we!?  Sometimes it’s not always that simple. We still need to explicitly teach them how to put all of the reading pieces together.  CVC instruction still needs to be systematic, logical, practiced in whole group and small group, and needs to follow a “gradual release” model - I Do, We Do, You Do.  

I’ve found that having a prerequisite list to word reading is super helpful when beginning to learn CVC words.  I’m here to share that with you today, along with what it looks like to put CVC instruction into practice in a classroom setting.

Full Show Notes and Freebies Here!

These days, we’re often told what not to do while teaching reading, but what we’re often lacking is what we should replace those “don’t do” activities with.  Well,  I have a list of don’ts that are accompanied by a list of do’s when it comes to specifically teaching letter sounds

Full Show Notes Here

More of What You Need:

Check out my other two podcasts that compliment this one and give you more info on how to make your students masters of letter sounds:

• Podcast #9: Letter Sounds: Your Questions Answered 

• Podcast #10: Making Letter Sounds Stick.

I don’t know about you, but teaching blends can be tricky. Blends (also known as consonant blends) are two or three consonant sounds that appear together in a word without any vowel sounds in between. These are words like flip, stop, strip, help, desk and spring. When students begin learning blends, they struggle to hear both sounds at the beginning or at the end. They often leave out the second sound. This happens because they are so used to reading and writing CVC words and this shift makes it difficult. 

But it doesn’t have to be!  That’s why today I am going to share with you a few ways that you can make blends stick for your students. No longer will you have to fear blends on your scope and sequence, because these tips and tricks will make them easy and fun!

FULL SHOW NOTES HERE

"Phonics instruction should be an essential component of a comprehensive reading program to ensure that children develop strong foundational skills necessary for reading success." 

-National Reading Panel Report

Phonics instruction plays a crucial role in developing strong reading skills in young learners. By teaching the relationship between sounds and letters, we can equip students with the necessary tools to decode words and comprehend texts. To ensure effective phonics instruction, it is essential to incorporate explicit and systematic teaching methods into our instruction. In this blog post, we will explore five powerful strategies that can boost phonics instruction and promote reading proficiency in your students.

See Full Show Notes Here

Meet Chrissy Beltran

• Check her out!

  • Website: Buzzing with Ms. B

  • Instagram: buzzingwithmsb

  • YouTube: Buzzing with Ms. B

  • Podcast: Buzzing with Ms. B: The Coaching Podcast

  • Courses: Instructional Coaching Courses

Three Moves Literacy Coaches Should Make at the Beginning of the Year

The beginning of the year can be tough - there’s lots to do, lots of overwhelm, and the tasks ahead seem daunting.  But it’s important to start it off right, because it can set the tone for the entire year.  Below, Chrissy shares three tasks that literacy coaches can do to begin the year on the right foot.

First things first:  Chrissy states that it’s foundational to introduce your role as a literacy coach to teachers and staff and let them know what they can expect from you.  Before these three steps, be sure to define your role within the school and in what ways you’ll be helping them.

Full Show Notes Here