Lit Up Literacy

09/18/2026

Letter names - when and why? 📝

Teaching letter names at the early stages of phonics instruction is likely to cause confusion and cognitive overload for many students. Letter names should be introduced once students securely understand that letters are representations of sounds in words.

Once students know how the code works—often towards the end of the first year of school—letter names become a useful way for students and teachers to talk about spellings. If a student asks, “Which spelling of /k/ do I need for ‘rock’?”, the teacher can say that it is the ‘see’ ‘kay’ spelling of /k/.

But what if a student asks how to spell the sound /w/ in ‘when’ before letter names are introduced? The teacher would simply write the spelling < wh > on a mini-whiteboard, pointing to the spelling and saying, “This is how we spell the sound /w/ in ‘when’. It’s two letters, but it’s just one sound.”

It would be incorrect to say that ‘when’ is spelled /w/ /h/ /e/ /n/, as there are three sounds in the word, not four.

Once letter names have been mastered, students and teachers can use them to talk about spellings more efficiently. They can say that it is the ‘see’ ‘kay’ spelling of /k/ in ‘rock’, or that it is the ‘double you’ ‘aitch’ spelling of /w/ in ‘when’.

09/17/2026

We are excited to be training up our newest powerhouse Interventionist, James! This means more availability for those seeking high-quality literacy instruction at a discounted price.

If you have been looking for high quality instruction, but swooning at the price tag, then working with somebody who is building their experience with our team is just the ticket!

Visit https://www.litupliteracy.com/signup to sign up your student, book your free guardian consultation and find out more!

04/03/2026

Could it be DLD?

Some signs to look for:
🔹 Difficulty understanding instructions
🔹 Trouble expressing thoughts clearly
🔹 Struggles with storytelling or conversation
🔹 Challenges with reading and writing
🔹 Limited vocabulary compared to peers
🔹 Difficulty following or remembering verbal information

DLD is not caused by hearing loss or intelligence differences. It’s a language disorder with no obvious cause.

Early support makes a big difference. For more information about DLD and resources go to DLDandMe.org

Share to spread awareness 💬

02/25/2026

What can I say? I love what I do, and it‘s pretty awesome when kids love it, too!

01/01/2026

Happy New Year!

While I've never been much for "New Year's Resolutions," I guess I have made one this year. I've decided to make an effort to read more for pleasure (reading for fun seems to have been replaced with reading for knowledge, and on my computer, since becoming a mother . . . 16 years ago!).

So! I've compiled a list of 90+ books, aiming to read 52 this year (about one per week). I went with a Canadian Author theme, which was immediately complicated by my overthinking (do I limit it to authors born in Canada? Does it count if they were born here but moved away?). Ultimately, I concluded with "Whatever. If they seem to have Canadian citizenship, that's good enough," because frankly, I've got to get reading if I'm going to check off 52 books from this list.

Who's in? Join the challenge, track your reads, and share your progress! Maybe 52 isn't the right number for you, so pick what works. What Canadian books do you love that I missed? Share your recommendations below so we can crowdsource the ultimate list and inspire each other. Bonus points for pics of your stacks or reviews. Is 2026 going to be your year of Reading For Fun?

If you, like me, enjoy a good spreadsheet (I know there must be others out there) you can make a copy of my Google Sheets to keep track of your own reads. Check off what you've read, arrange it alphabetically by Title or Author, let it work its spreadsheet magic on your weary soul. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aRTPMMcMwm4AgGkGt-gWaIAgEup8cd48uABX1ApvGn8/edit?usp=sharing



No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod
The Birth House by Ami McKay
Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis
Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels
In Search of April Raintree by Beatrice Mosionier (Beatrice Culleton)
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
Unless by Carol Shields
Ties That Bind by Carolyn Arnold
Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline
Louis Riel by Chester Brown
Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards
What We All Long For by Dionne Brand
Generation X by Douglas Coupland
The Tiger and the Cosmonaut by Eddy Boudel Tan
Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson
Traplines by Eden Robinson
Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay
By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue
The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight
Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy
Lions of Al Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill
Two Solitudes by Hugh MacLennan
Reproduction by Ian Williams
Everthing is Fine Here by Iryn Tushabe
The Riviter by Jack Wang
The Hunger We Pass Down by Jen Sookfong Lee
The Orenda by Joseph Boyden
Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
Obasan by Joy Kogawa
Ducks by Kate Beaton
The Break by Katherena Vermette
The Strangers by Katherena Vermette
Annabel by Kathleen Winter
Ru by Kim Thúy
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
The Bishop’s Man by Linden MacIntyre
February by Lisa Moore
Still Life by Louise Penny
Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
The Diviners by Margaret Laurence
The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence
Bear by Marian Engel
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
Women Talking by Miriam Toews
Bunny by Mona Awad
Barney’s Version by Mordecai Richler
Dirty Birds by Morgan Murray
We the Kindling by Otoniya J. Okot Bitek
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
Dante's Indiana by Randy Boyagoda
Original Prin by Randy Boyagoda
Clara Callan by Richard B. Wright
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
Fifth Business by Robertson Davies
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
As for Me and My House by Sinclair Ross
Pick a Colour by Souvankham Thammavongsa
Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock
Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot
The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis
Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King
The Back of the Turtle by Thomas King
The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King
Head Hunter by Timothy Findley
The Wars by Timothy Findley
Moon Of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Life of Pi by Yann Martel

12/15/2025

Warm words on a cold winter's day for our fantastic online tutor, Dawna.

12/13/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/1GvUNFKi1Y/

This may be alarmist. I don’t know if the study took into account that perhaps brains with short attention spans are the brains more likely to seek short form videos and the dopamine rush from constantly changing entertainment. However, I think there are some good points here - particularly about developing brains. About what we put into our bodies and minds impacting our health. Please, help your kids find other outlets for entertainment. Please.

11/06/2025

Let them READ!
Often parents are concerned once their kid starts reading that "he only wants to read graphic novels" or "she won't pick a book without pictures."

Ms Chang has it right - when we are reading for pleasure - let it be something that pleases them, not you. I'd much rather my kids are reading Dog Man or Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun than watching YouTube or scrolling through Social Media (although those are not really options in our house). Sometimes we worry so much about making things "educational" that we suck all the fun out of them and send our kids careening down totally undesirable paths.

- A mom whose kids read everything from Big Nate, Diary of a Wimpy Kid & Dog Man to Roddy Doyle, Jules Verne, Dickinson and Wally Lamb (and everything in between).

10/29/2025

Okay, I'm pretty excited. While it doesn't really look like much, it has taken me a long time to get this done (because I'm not a web developer, but I made my own website). I have had a store of 90+ games that (mostly) align with our approach here at Lit Up Literacy (which aligns with EBLI Speech to Print). I have finally got around to listing them ALL on my website and added some filters so you can search for games by sound, tags, type of game, etc. These games are NOT going to align with an approach that is not Speech to Print. Some may not make sense to you if you are practicing something like UFLI, OG, Barton, etc. However OUR students have been hounding me for a few months to add more games to my website, and our students know this approach. Enjoy!

*games are based on my Western Canadian accent which may differ in some ways from some Canadians further East (or accents from any other English speaking country). If you find something is *off* for you, no biggie - find a different game that makes sense to you. The letters on the page do not determine our accents (or we'd all speak with the same one).

On your turn, flip cards and read the words to ear points. Keep flipping to rack up your score, but watch out! If you reveal a BOOM card, you lose all the points from that turn. Stop and "lock in" your points before you explode!