Strategies for Irregular High Frequency Words

On September 30, I shared a strategy from Read Naturally for explicit instruction on regular high frequency words. Today I want to share strategies from research and my colleagues for systematic, explicit instruction around irregular high frequency words.

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Two New Strategies: Fluency and Phonics

As I continue to deepen my knowledge of foundational skills to support reading and disciplinary literacy, I am grateful for resources such as the Teaching foundational reading skills Part 2 webinar I recently watched. It included many useful strategies, two of which are new to me and stand out as useful for others. In this post, I want to summarize these: Sound Out Words and Fluency Practice.

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Developing Strong Student to Student Partnerships

As the school year begins, many of us are talking about how to build strong student to student partnerships in our classrooms. When students collaborate in effective partnerships, learning increases and a sense of belonging is nurtured. In this post, I want to share some partnership ideas.

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Envisioning Language

This summer I had the privilege of attending part of a Responsive Classroom® training. This opportunity helped strengthen my understanding of how to nurture conditions that include the four domains of a responsive classroom: engaging academics, positive community, effective management, and developmentally responsive teaching. A key strategy to support all four domains is Envisioning Language. In this post I want to summarize some of what I learned about such language.

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GLEAM: Grade-level, Engaging, Affirming and Meaningful

Recently I have been learning about GLEAM™ and the GLEAM™ Hypothesis, developed by the experts at UnboundEd. In this post, I will summarize my understanding of what GLEAM™ means and share the hypothesis. My hope is that we can use GLEAM™ as we intentionally plan for rigorous learning, in the fall and in years to come… as a way to provide culturally relevant teaching, as a way to provide the best instruction for our historically marginalized students.

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