How To...

Lesson Objective: Identify and isolate graphemes in order to recognize phonological patterns. Methodology: Students cut words into graphemes and reassemble Duration: 5-15 minutes (depends on the number of words) Snip, snip, snip. The grounding experience of mindlessly cutting paper must have a theraputic effect on my students. I usually hear complaints when I distribute work--but not with anything that involves cutting. Wish I had involved more of these activities sooner. T

Lesson Objective: Enhance comprehension of key vocabulary through contextual application Methodology: Students think critically about vocabulary by answer "thumbs up/down" questions, analyze depictions and non-depictions of terms, and associate emotions with terms. Duration: Varies depending on format and number of terms. I'd allow up to five minutes per vocabulary word. "If it's not in a text with emojis, you kids can't read for ****"--Dana from The Pitt Anyone else a Pitt

Lesson Objective: Reinforce spelling patterns Grouping: independent Methodology: Students play various online games at educaplay.com and Blooket.com to reinforce concepts Duration: 10 minutes I'm psyched about all the fun games at educaplay.com! My only regret is not discovering this website sooner. There are just so many options out there. I like this one in particular for numerous reasons. 1) It's free using my MCPS Google login credentials 2) I can track student progre

Lesson Objective: Recognize and classify graphemes and vocabulary to build connections, fluency and accuracy Methodology: Students sort and classify targeted graphemes or vocabulary Duration: 5-10 minutes 🖍 How the Routine Works I use open and closed sorts for both phonology and morphology. On the first day of a new phonological unit, students classify all the target graphemes. It's an "open" sort, meaning that student may group the graphemes however they wish as long as t

Lesson Objective: Review vocabulary to build automaticity Grouping: Partners Methodology: Students work in pairs to review vocabulary in a competitive format. Duration: 10-20 minutes Flashcard Review 2.0. This game is essentially a flashcard review but in the form of a competitive game. Another way to expose students to the same material without it feeling monotonous! Additionally, students are reviewing vocabulary terms versus morphemes. This lesson invites students to

Lesson Objective: Enhance comprehension of key vocabulary through word generation, comparison, and contextual application Grouping: Partners Methodology: Students work in pairs to review vocabulary in a competitive format. Duration: 15-20 minutes It's game time. How do you expose students to the same material over and over without it feeling monotonous? Change the format! This lesson invites students to apply the same connection-making strategies used in the capture sheets

Lesson Objective: Recognize and use common rimes to build fluency and accuracy through orthographic mapping. Grouping: Small-group...

Lesson Objective: Identify and sort phonological patterns in a story. Grouping: Small-group to independently at seats Methodology: Students read a passage containing words with the targeted phonological pattern. After highlighting, students sort the terms the same pattern. Duration: 15-30 minutes for two periods. Fact: 90% of my students would rather clean than read. The percentage decreases to 40% when I up the ante to cleaning a school bathroom at the end of the day, so

Lesson Objective: Build fluency with short vowel sounds through auditory, visual, and kinetic responses . Grouping: Small-group...

Lesson Objective: Identify the mouth positions unique to each short vowel sound. Grouping: Small-group Methodology: Five photos of the...

Lesson Objective: Segment, blend, and manipulate phonemes Grouping: Small-group or 1:1 Methodology: Based on PAST data, target student phonemic awareness needs from onset-rime to advanced. Duration: 3-5 minutes, multiple times a week based on need /Ph/ /o/ /n/ /e/ /m/ /i/ /c/ / ə/ /w/ /air/ /n/ /e/ /s/ Phonemic awareness, the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words, is essential for fluent reading. Yet it has long been overlooked in liter

Lesson Objective: Strengthen students’ understanding of morphemes by prompting them to recognize, compare, and articulate...

Lesson Objective: Review known morpheme or phoneme to grapheme relationships. Grouping: Partner or Individual Methodology: Students...

Lesson Objective: Assess understanding of the unit mastery goal Grouping: Independent Methodology: Students synthesize their learning...

Lesson Objective: Review content in preparation for an assessment Grouping: Whole-Group Methodology: Jeopardy-style review immediately...

Lesson Objective: Generate concise definitions for vocabulary terms containing targeted morphemes. Grouping: Independently in...

Lesson Objective: Allocate time for students to revisit, complete, or improve upon unfinished or unsatisfactory work. Grouping:...

Cloze Encounters of the Fun Kind Fun fact: Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind was the last horror movie I ever watched—back in my mid-twenties. I couldn’t sleep for weeks. Every strange noise was definitely an alien about to abduct me. Luckily, we’re dealing with cloze encounters—and usually of the humorous variety. Cloze sentences are one of the many ways to reinforce vocabulary. Thank you to Hermann Ebbinghaus for discovering the forgetting curve (AKA the memory curve) i

Lesson Objective: Review morphemes to build automaticity. Grouping: Partners Methodology: Students work in pairs to review morphemes...

Lesson Objective: Analyze and sort words with targeted morphemes as they appear in a passage; demonstrate comprehension by identifying character feelings and write an sequel or alternative ending to the story. Methodology: Students read a passage containing words with the targeted morphemes. After highlighting, students sort and define vocabulary words. Last, they identify character feelings through emojis and write an sequel or alternative ending to the story using vocabu