Looking for new resources to help you put the Science of Reading into practice in your classroom? Then you've come to the right place!
In this three-part series, we’ve invited K–6 teachers from around the nation to tell us about the Scholastic Teachables resources they’re using to support evidence-based literacy instruction.
And we're not just sticking to phonics. We're exploring the full range of elements that make up the interdisciplinary body of research known as the Science of Reading. In fact, we're following the lead of top researchers and recommending resources that support the two types of instruction required by the Science of Reading:
1. Code-Focused - Skills that help students translate letters into sounds, such as phonics, phonemic awareness, and fluency
2. Meaning-Focused - Skills that help students understand what they are reading, such as vocabulary and comprehension
In part two of this series, we're thrilled to welcome Laura Zaleski, a 14-year teaching veteran who currently teaches first grade at Seton Catholic School in Hudson, Ohio. Here are the Scholastic Teachables resources she uses to implement the Science of Reading in her classroom:
1. Science of Reading Skills Sheets — Code-Focused
Each day, my first graders and I explore phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. I begin our literacy block with a short review of previously taught skills. I might start with Short Vowel Crossword or a review exercise, such as Testing, Testing, 1-2-3. Whether I project the sheet on my whiteboard or assign it individually, both of these activities provide practice without being boring.
2. Phonics Flipbooks — Code-Focused
When working on blending skills, I use these flipbooks to guide children through word families. These flipbooks feature related words to help build decoding skills with initial consonant blends, onsets, and rimes.
3. Word Family Packets — Code-Focused
Within each packet, children blend and sort both real and nonsense words; isolate the beginning, middle, and ending sounds of words; determine the number of sounds in words; find rhyming words; create words with missing letters; read and sort sentences; and, finally, put all of those skills together to read a decodable story.
4. Folk & Fairy Tale Mini-Books & Activities — Code- and Meaning-Focused
I love this series of books for repeated practice with key phonics skills because they feature short stories and graphic organizers. In addition to phonics practice, they help students build skills in problem-solving, following directions, vocabulary, and writing.
5. First Comprehension (Fiction) — Meaning-Focused
My students and I love these resources! They help introduce and hone comprehension skills and encourage children to respond to stories with words, illustrations, and true/false statements.
6. Reading Response Organizers — Meaning-Focused
For even more in-depth text analysis, these graphic organizers challenge children to respond critically to what they’ve read. For example, they might reflect on why an author chose a particular setting for a story or practice their note-taking skills as they read nonfiction texts.
7. Scrambled Sentences — Code-Focused
When we move to the writing follow up, I have so many choices. To reinforce phonics skills and teach sentence structure and grammar, I often use these pages in which my Firsties cut out and unscramble a set of words to create a sentence that describes a picture.
Scholastic Teachables provides high-quality resources that align perfectly with my students’ abilities and needs. From games and graphic organizers to puzzles, books, reading passages, and skills sheets, these materials allow me the flexibility to select a variety of resources for whole-class, small-group, and individual work. There isn’t enough time to use all of the great resources Scholastic Teachables has available! I have seen remarkable growth in my Firsties’ reading skills, thanks to the support of Scholastic Teachables.
Stay tuned for Part 3 when we invite John Gottshalk to share his favorite Science of Reading resources on Scholastic Teachables. And catch up on Part 1, where Martha Garcia, a K–8 Title I Instructor in San Antonio, Texas, shares her favorite resources.