The Building Blocks of ReadingReading is comprised of 5 building blocks, pillars. They are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Below, I have defined and provided list of teaching resources for each pillar.
Phonemic AwarenessPhonemic Awareness are sounds of what we hear. For example, what do you hear in the word cat? /c/-/a/-/t/. Individual letters are blended together to create a word.
![]() Sightwords is the need to see website dedicated to teaching children to read. This resources is packed full of teaching instruction, curriculum development, and teaching aids.
![]() The University of Oregon provides a curriculum map of early phonemic awareness. This is a great resources although a little tough to read.
PhonicsPhonics is the matching of sounds to letters or groups of letters. The three sounds /c/ /a/ /t/ make up the word cat. Phonics is what we hear and see. This is also the area in which students learn to decode words within reading.
![]() Phonic Talk is a creative site that provides an outlined order of what to teach in phonics. It is loaded with great visual aids and tons of printable teaching charts!
![]() Edith Cowen University created a teaching sequence for phonics with K-6 detailed skills and examples for each. On page 5, they created a valuable list of reading resources every teacher should know about.
FluencyFluency is the ability to read with accuracy, speed, and expression.
![]() Reading Rockets have a list of strategies and activities to use in guiding fluent readers. They have also created a list of top 10 resources for teachers.
![]() Reading Resources came up with some great fluency activities to try out in your classroom.
VocabularyReading vocabulary are the words we need to know in order to understand what we read. (Reading Rockets)
![]() Alton Schools created a great vocabulary resource based off of Marzano's Six Step Process.
![]() Sightwords provides lessons, flashcards, and games. I couldn't be happier to have found this free resource for their flashcards alone!
ComprehensionComprehension is the processing or understanding of what is read.
![]() Reading Rockets rocks my world with valuable information and fabulous teaching instruction. Check out this list of reading strategies and how to incorporate them.
![]() Reading Rockets have come up with 7 strategies for teaching vocabulary. They provide definitions, instructions, and resources for each strategy.
![]() We Are Teachers wrote an article with 21 different anchor charts for teaching comprehension. I included this resource because I'm big on visual aids.
The Science of ReadingThe Science of Reading is the giant buzz word in education right now. It is being ripped off the shelves like a clearance T.V. at Target on Black Friday. Although it sounds new, it's actually been around for a long while. The major problem with implementation was the extreme cost of scrapping the old and bringing in all new curriculum in our schools. So not only was it costly but curriculum copies were slow on the uptake to implement it. What first came out and claimed to be Science of Reading had only taken a few key concepts, not the whole.
Some states picked up on this movement and are providing money for schools to train their staff. Grants are being offered for schools to buy new curriculum and reading materials. The time is now to do the research and make the switch. So what is the Science of Reading? It takes the two main parts of reading, language comprehension and word recognition, and "ropes" them together to show that they are both needed to grow skilled readers. This diagram is a great visual to help teachers and parents understand the components needed to create skilled readers. My personal favorite is the added emphasis on "language" comprehension and not just "reading" comprehension. The importance of listening comprehension of language. This resonates with me as my students can recall every single major event from my read aloud time but not during their independent reading time. Free Online BooksThe sites listed below offer free children's books either online or as a downloadable PDF.
TeachingHere are a list of writing strategies and resources.
ActivitiesWord Work is the manipulation or study of words, words patterns, and meaning.
Vocabulary ListsActivities and Resources |