Reaching Every Reader

09/08/2021

No better way to end International Literacy Day then to find this package on my door step. SO excited to dig in to Once Upon a Phonogram by . This is going to be a FABULOUS resource for my students. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! (And peep my cute dress! 😍)

If interested in purchasing, follow this link: https://www.theinstructionhub.com/ih-store/once-upon-a-phonogram-other-structured-literacy-concepts

08/22/2021

FREE BOOKS!

Kellogg's Feeding Reading program is pretty awesome. All you do is purchase any participating Kellogg’s product (Poptarts, cereal, Pringle’s, NutriGrain, Eggos, some Kashi products, etc.) take a picture of your receipt, & head over to www.kelloggsfamilyrewards.com to upload the photo and choose your book.

These books are GOOD, too, with books for beginning readers, middle level, and YA. I was excited to see:

Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi
Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
Dancing in the Wings by Debbie Allen
Fish in a Tree by Linda Mullay Hunt
The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Perez
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
Mexican Whiteboy by Matt de la Peña

And many more!

Happy eating yummy Kellogg’s products and reading! 😋 📚

Big thank you to Rantoul Public Library’s youth services librarian, Miss Joella, for sending me this information! 😁

08/05/2021

Here is something you can apply in your home or classroom today! 🧠

Typically, when students misread a word, we have a tendency to tell them to go back and reread. Try this instead:

⭐️ Have the student NAME the letters in a word. If the word is pat, have them name the letter p, letter a, and letter t. Why? This allows students’ attention to be focused on each letter. It also strengthens the orthographic identity of the word in the student’s brain.

On another note, tomorrow is my last day of my first CALT training course. I have learned more in this 2-week course than in my entire undergraduate or graduate degree! I am so grateful I am able to be apart of this 2 year training program. I can’t wait to learn even more! 😍😍

08/03/2021

📖 STORY TIME 📖

When I was a classroom teacher in middle school, I wore this SUPER cute t-shirt that read: “Reading is RAD” in a beautiful cursive font. During my first class of the day, I had a group of students ask me, “Miss, what does your shirt say?” I was taken aback as I told them, and that’s when they told me they were never taught cursive in school. After that day, I remember many students asking me to teach them cursive so they could “officially” sign their name. At the time, I had no idea the actual importance of cursive handwriting & how easier it would make many of their lives.

✏️✏️✏️✏️

Hopefully, we all know that explicit teaching of handwriting skills is imperative for reading and writing instruction. Handwriting is actually a written language skill that enables the transcription of sound & morpheme units into spelling written words. This then enables the student to translate ideas into written sentences. Teaching handwriting is the foundation for all levels of written language -- letters, written words constructed from letters, and written sentences constructed from multiple words.

Research actually tells us that ALL students benefit from cursive handwriting instruction in 3rd and 4th grade. Why? The connecting strokes between letters help link letters into word spelling units and also help increase students’ speed in writing words. Cursive handwriting is actually simpler for a student to inscribe than print. Additionally, research has shown that this has contributed to better spelling and composing in 4th-7th grade. Other benefits of cursive handwriting:

📝 Eliminates a student’s need to decide where each letter should begin because all cursive letter shapes begin on the baseline.
📝 Provides directional movement from left to right.
📝 Provides unique letter shapes that are not mirror images of other letters
📝 REDUCES reversals by eliminating the need to raise the pencil when writing a single letter or series of letters in a word.

For more information on handwriting instruction, check out Birsh & Carreker (2018).

08/02/2021

Sharing this important post from one of my colleagues. Swipe to read her caption, too.

Parents, is your child’s school utilizing leveled texts? Teachers, is your school district providing you with leveled readers to use in your classroom? This is something very important to read and consider. Comment or DM for any questions!

08/01/2021

🌟 RESOURCE FOR PARENTS & TEACHERS 🌟

Parents, are you looking for hands on games and activities to help support learning letter names and letter sounds or even reading short words?

Teachers, maybe you’re looking to add or switch up your center activities for your students that will help support learning letters, sounds, and decoding.

LOOK NO FURTHER! I highly recommend Junior Learning for your reading needs! 😍🥰 Please, share & pass the word along to any parent or teacher friends. ❤️

https://juniorlearning.com/collections/best-sellers

08/01/2021

“Men lie.

Women lie.

Numbers don’t.

As a former juvenile detention counselor, I know these statistics are true. ❌🛑

“The movement is a rhythm to us
Freedom is like religion to us
Justice is juxtapositionin' us
Justice for all just ain't specific enough” - ”

Thank you, Mr. Lit EDU, for your support!

Urbana-Champaign Books to Prisoners

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSAoV0osAz1/?utm_medium=copy_link

07/31/2021

Hot take…. If you provide reading and/or writing accommodations for students, you should be providing reading and/or writing remediation (or intervention — depending on student) for them. Students, especially those with individual education plans or 504s, are sent to gen ed classes with accommodations, but what are we doing to remediate or intervene? Are we just pushing them through the system without actually teaching them the foundational skills they need to be successful? Accommodations without remediation is like putting a bandaid over a wound without truly treating it.

What are your thoughts?

07/29/2021

🔤 ALPHABET ARC 🔤

It is likely we have all encountered a student who has struggled with LMNO or W when sequencing letters of the alphabet. Utilizing an alphabet arc can help students master alphabet knowledge including letter names but also letter sequence. This is also a great opportunity to introduce & build student vocabulary with words like sequence, initial, medial, and final, which will then transfer & be used as students begin decoding. Why use an arc instead of a straight line? Arcs can seem less overwhelming then a straight line. More importantly, arcs help student visualize because of the midpoint at the top. It’s simpler to identify medial letters!

Check out this FREE activity that includes printable alphabet arcs from Florida Center for Reading Research:

https://fcrr.org/sites/g/files/upcbnu2836/files/media/PDFs/student_center_activities/vpk_alphabet_knowledge/AK1_Letter_Arc_color.pdf

07/28/2021

🔤📚🧠

Why do we teach letter names? What is the importance? Why can’t we just teach the sounds for reading?

Stay tuned this week for some easy to implement multisensory alphabet knowledge activities to do with your children or students.

07/28/2021

ZOOM IN! 👀

Can you see the tiny bumps on the iPad screen? I received my TacScreen in the mail today! 🤩🤩🤩

We know that multisensory learning is excellent for ALL learners. Multisensory processing of sensory inputs is a fundamental rule of brain structure & function. Through the use of VKAT (visual, auditory, kinesthetic-motor, and tactile) sensory modalities in our literacy instruction, we can help build, strengthen & solidify neural connections in the brain to associate, identify, and remember phonemes (sounds) & graphemes (letters).

I can’t wait to use this with my students! Anyone else use a TacScreen with their learners? 😍🥰

07/21/2021

WONDERFUL opportunity for children in Rantoul!

Upcoming program alert🎉 The Rantoul Public Library is hosting Illinois Junior Chefs classes with the University of Illinois! Each class focuses on a food group and related cooking skills. It is limited to 20 participants, ages 8-13.This program will be held from August 9-13, 2:30-4pm each day. The U of I is allergy-conscious: no strawberries or nuts, and they can provide lactose-free dairy if necessary. If interested, stop by the Rantoul Public Library at the children's desk to sign up by Friday August 6th!🍽