I’ve changed how I teach reading foundational skills to my students. I use a combination of Reading Horizons, the science of reading, and their IEP goals.
Let’s walk through how I teach foundational skills during small group instruction:
- What is this word? We read the word together.
- How many sounds or phonemes? (Honestly I usually just say the words sounds but I need to be more diligent about using the correct vocabulary.) Have them use their fingers or a pop-it to sound out the phonemes.
- Write down the phonemes. Discuss any sound combinations we may have heard while we were writing them down. Do mini-lessons or reteaching during your discussion, if necessary.
- Mark the vowels. If they are long or short vowel sounds, then have them tell you which vowel sound they heard. If you need to do a mini-lesson on short and long vowel sounds, this is the time to do that.
I also talk about how to mark the vowels with breves (short vowels) and macrons (long vowels). As the year continues on, I want to show them a dictionary or glossary pronunciation guide. - How many syllables do you hear? Have them write those down. I either have them hum, chin drop, raise fingers, or use a pop-it to determine the syllables and syllable breaks.
After we are finished with looking at the word, I often have them do a phonological awareness exercise. They need to be able to hear and manipulate sounds. My students love completing the phonological awareness exercises.
These are the sheets I have created as a template for my teaching.
Happy teaching,
Traci
