Explicit instruction in core literacy skills (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension) combined with multisensory supports, are key to helping children with language-based learning disabilities thrive in a virtual learning environment. Try these ideas and online learning tools with your students. (Developed in partnership with the National Education Association)
Here are just a few of the strategies you'll find:
Phonemic Awareness: Add, Delete, and Substitute Changing sounds in spoken words by adding, deleting, or substituting is a complex multi-step process. Bring this mental task to life using shapes as you model. The steps in the process become concrete for your students as they listen, watch, respond, and move the shapes on their own in this ‘Say It. Move It’ activity from the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI). Watch a video tutorial >
Phonics: Word Chaining Provide your students with an online tool that allows you to observe their work as they complete the steps in the chain. Possible options include the word chain board in Google Slides and the word work mat from the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI). Watch a demo of the word work mat >
Vocabulary: Analyze the Meaningful Parts of Words Students who are having trouble reading longer words benefit from learning how to identify the meaningful parts in a word and to pull the word apart. You can help your students recognize and read these parts, as they think about meaning, using the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI) morpheme trees. Watch a small group lesson >
Hyflex teaching — sometimes called "concurrent" teaching — is a hybrid model of instruction where some students attend class in-person while other students are simultaneously remote, streaming "live" into class. Use these 6 tips to help make ‘hyflex’ teaching and learning work better for you and your students. (From Common Sense Media)
Digital whiteboards like Google Jamboard give all students the opportunity to show their understanding, listen to peers, and reflect on next steps in the learning process. Learn more about using Jamboard in this article. (From Achieve the Core)
From professors Nancy Frey and Doug Fisher, here are a few simple, effective adjustments you can make to adapt formative evaluations to online instruction. Learn how to use individual whiteboards, waterfall chats, polls, and digital journals. (From Edutopia)
In this special Reading Rockets video series, experts answer real questions from families about reading and how to support your children at home. In one video, literacy expert Kegi Wells from the Barksdale Reading Institute answers a parent’s question, “How can I encourage reading when it’s hard for my child?” (Developed in partnership with the National Education Association).
Reading expert Linda Farrell works with Aiko on a common letter reversal — confusing the letters ‘b’ and ‘d’. Ms. Farrell coaches Aiko to look at the letters during b/d practice and to look at the words while she works with Aiko to read short vowel words accurately.
And try the NEW Viewer’s Guide and Facilitator’s Guide created especially for this video, to support professional development in your school or district. (Developed in partnership with the National Education Association)
With this cooperative learning strategy, each student has a chance to become the expert in a topic and share their knowledge. Go inside Cathy Doyle's second grade classroom in Evanston, Illinois to observe her students use the jigsaw strategy to understand the topic of gardening more deeply and share what they have learned.
Attention all singers, rappers, horn blowers, pipers, pickers, percussionists, and piano players! March is Music in Our Schools Month – and we’ve got a joyful collection of picture books (fiction and nonfiction), hands-on activities, and apps to help kids celebrate and learn all about music.
In these 10 wonderful picture books, you’ll meet early activists who fought for women’s right to vote, four African American women who helped NASA launch astronauts into space, the First Lady of Jazz, a 19th century botanist who published the first photography book, the first bilingual storyteller/librarian, and other real-life heroes!
Related:
Find many more titles for Women’s History Month on Book Finder
Hopkinson's vivid picture books about history shine a light on the role of women and girls. In our interview, Hopkinson discusses her mission to make history come alive for students, her meticulous attention to historical details, and her love of sharing good books with her own children.
Related:
Celebrating Heroines in Fact and Fiction A lively panel discussion with Katherine Paterson, Rita Williams-Garcia, Jeannine Atkins, Heather Lang, and Ekua Holmes.
Weatherford is a children's book author and poet who "mines the past for family stories, fading traditions, and forgotten struggles." Some of Weatherford's books celebrate the stories of Black historical figures such as Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, Jesse Owens, and Billie Holiday. Other books recount historical events such as the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Greensboro Sit-ins, and the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. Weatherford's books have received many awards, including the 2021 Newbery Honor for BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom.
Explore two ways you can help your child begin to develop information literacy: learning to tell the difference between fact and opinion, and figuring out if a source of information is reliable. (Tips in English and Spanish)
Nonfiction books give kids a chance to learn new concepts and vocabulary, as well as broaden their view of the world. Learn how to take a "book walk" with a new nonfiction book and how to model active reading. (In English and Spanish)
Reading as Liberation—An Examination of the Research Base Achieve the Core has compiled research for more than 500 expert sources to explore the ways research-based literacy approaches combined with personalized learning can accelerate literacy and create equity in the classroom.
“I think the best thing educators and parents can do for their kids is to just provide opportunities for their children's creative outlets. And if you don't have art classes nearby, all you need is paper and pens and pencils.”
Reading Rockets is a national educational service of WETA, the flagship public television and radio station in the nation's capital. The goal of the project is to provide information on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help. Reading Rockets is supported in part by the Poses Family Foundation and Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes.
Send your questions, comments, or suggestions to readingrockets@weta.org. Our mailing address is WETA/Reading Rockets, 2775 S. Quincy St., Arlington, VA 22206. We look forward to hearing from you!
