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English-language Arts Standards

Common Core State Standards

Common Core State Standards

Standards-based education is now the norm in public and most parochial schools. Having largely captured the focus of the educational reform movement over the last 25 years, standards-based instruction is now the instructional mandate in all 50 states. Although some states have rescinded their adoption of the Common Core State Standards and some, like Texas, never did adopt the Standards, each state has adopted its own set of standards and some have developed their own state assessment systems. Teachers and district administrators continue to align curriculum to the instructional demands of the Common Core English Language Arts Standards.

Although the authors of the Common Core State Standards assert that literacy instruction must be a shared responsibility within the school, the largest burden still falls on the shoulders of ELA teachers. Of the four Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language Strands, the Language Strand presents the greatest challenge for many teachers. Most ELA teachers simply have not had the undergraduate or graduate coursework to prepare them to teach the L.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 Standards in grammar and usage, mechanics, spelling, language application, and vocabulary.

This author, Mark Pennington, has written articles and developed free teaching resources on the Common Core ELA Standards and included these in his Pennington Publishing Blog to support fellow ELA teachers and reading intervention specialists. Mark’s assessment-based teaching resources are available at Pennington Publishing.

This article and resource compilation is jam-packed with FREE resources, lesson plans, and samples from grades 4–high school ELA and reading intervention programs, developed by teacher and author, Mark Pennington. Each of the following 25+ articles has multiple links to research, related articles, and free or paid resources:

Common Core Literalism

The Common Core State Standards were never written to be the Bible for ELA and reading intervention teachers. Read what the Common Core authors have to say and see how a common sense approach to teaching to the Standards can benefit both students and teachers.

FREE Instructional Resources: Syllable Awareness Assessment, 20 Advanced Syllable Rules, 10 English Accent Rules

Response to Intervention and the Common Core

Many teachers have never read the entire Common Core English Language Arts Standards. Sure, they’ve read their own district or state summaries of the Standards, but not the documents themselves. To understand the instructional role of the Standards, teachers must read the  appendices, which discuss important reflections and research regarding, for instance, reading intervention.

Grammar and the Common Core

More than any other Strand within the Common Core State Standards, the Language Strand with its focus on direct grammar, mechanics, and vocabulary instruction has been whole-heartedly embraced or intentionally ignored by teachers.

Common Core Instructional Minutes

With all the CCSS mandates, how can an ELA teacher allocate instructional time to be faithful to the Standards, while maintaining some sense of one’s own priorities? This article gets down to the minute-by-minute.

Common Core Academic Language Words

Of course, history, science, and technology teachers need to teach domain-specific academic vocabulary. However, there is a difference between academic language and academic vocabulary. The latter is subject/content specific; the former is not. Reading more challenging expository novels, articles, documents, reports, etc. will certainly help students implicitly learn much academic language; however, academic language word lists coupled with meaningful instruction do have their place. So, which word lists make sense?

Common Core Greek and Latinates

The bulk of Vocabulary Standards are included in the Language Strand of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Greek and Latin affixes (prefixes and suffixes) and roots are key components of five of the grade level Standards: Grades 4−8. Which Greek and Latin affixes and roots should we teach? How many should we teach? How should we teach them?

Grammar, Mechanics, Spelling, and Vocabulary

Grammar, Mechanics, Spelling, and Vocabulary  is part of a comprehensive Grades 4−12 language program, designed to address each Standard in the Language Strand of the Common Core State Standards in 60−90 weekly instructional minutes. This full-year curriculum provides interactive grammar, usage, mechanics, and spelling lessons, a complete spelling patterns program, language application openers, and vocabulary instruction. The program has all the resources to meet the needs of diverse learners. Diagnostic assessments provide the data to enable teachers to individualize instruction with targeted worksheets, each with a formative assessment. Progress monitoring matrices allow teachers to track student progress. Each instructional resource is carefully designed to minimize teacher preparation, correction, and paperwork. Appendices have extensive instructional resources, including the Pennington Manual of Style and downloadable essay-comments. A student workbook accompanies this program.

Overview of the Common Core Language Strand

English-language arts teachers have long been accustomed to the four-fold division of our “content” area into Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking. These divisions have been widely accepted and promoted by the NCTE, publishers, and other organizations. In a nod to the fearsome foursome, the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts maintains these divisions (called strands) with two notable revisions: Speaking and Listening are combined and Language has its own seat at the table.

Common Core Grammar Standards

The Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts are divided into Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language strands. The Common Core Grammar Standards are detailed in the Language Strand. It is notable that grammar and mechanics have their own strand, unlike the organization of many of the old state standards, which placed grammar and mechanics instruction solely within the confines of writing or speaking standards.

Of course, the writers of the Common Core use the ambiguous label, Language, to refer to what teachers and parents casually label as grammar and mechanics or conventions. To analyze content and educational philosophy of  the Common Core State Standards Language Strand, it may be helpful to examine What’s Good about the Common Core State Standards Language Strand? as well as What’s Bad about the Common Core State Standards Language Strand? chiefly from the words of the document itself.

How to Teach the Common Core Vocabulary Standards

What most teachers notice after careful reading of the Common Core Vocabulary Standards is the expected breadth, complexity, and depth of instruction across the grade levels. These vocabulary words require direct, deep-level instruction and practice in a variety of contexts to transfer to our students’ long-term memories. So what instructional strategies make sense to teach the Common Core Vocabulary Standards? And what is the right amount of direct, deep-level vocabulary instruction that will faithfully teach the Common Core Vocabulary Standards without consuming inordinate amounts of class time? Following is a weekly instructional plan to teach the L.4, 5, and 6 Vocabulary Standards.

CCSS Language Progressive Skills

The Language Strand has been one of the most controversial components of the COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS & LITERACY IN HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES, SCIENCE, AND TECHNICAL SUBJECTS. The Language Progressive Skills document emphasizes the essential grammar, usage, and mechanics skills, which need to be reviewed and reinforced year after year..

Common Core Curricular Crossover

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) produces some interesting curricular crossover. The traditional English-language arts divisions of reading, writing, listening, and speaking have been replaced with four new strands: reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language. The six Standards of the Language Strand borrow a bit from each of the traditional divisions. The inclusion of the Language Strand as its own set of Standards has created some concern in the ELA community.

Spelling Word Lists by Grade Levels

As an MA Reading Specialist and author of quite a few spelling curricula (eight at last count), I’m often asked about spelling word lists by grade levels. Which words are right for which grade levels? Is blank (substitute any word) a third or fourth grade word? Which spelling words are the most important ones to practice? The short answer is…

Common Core Essay Writing Terms

I propose using the CCSS language of instruction for the key writing terms across all subject disciplines in elementary, middle school, and high school. Some of us will have to come down out of our castles and give up pet writing terms that we’ve used for years, and ones that, indeed, may be more accurate than those of the CCSS. But for the sake of collaboration and service to our students, this pedagogical sacrifice is a must.

Common Core Content Area Reading and Writing

Nothing in the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has worried English-language arts teachers more than “The Great Shift.” This shift changes the emphasis of reading and writing in K-12 English-language arts (ELA) classrooms from the literature and narrative to the informational (to explain) and argumentative (to persuade) genres.

Common Core Language Standards

Teachers are generally quite familiar with the CCSS Reading and Writing Standards, not so with the Language Strand Standards. The Language Strand includes the grammar, usage, mechanics, and vocabulary Standards.

Standards and Accountability

Sometimes we teachers can be our own worst enemies. Check out this article, published in the Answer Sheet of The Washington Post.

Turning Dependent into Independent Readers

The Common Core State Standards for English-language Arts makes a compelling case for not doing business as usual in our ELA classrooms. That business consists of the traditional “sage on the stage” methodology of reading an entire novel or play out loud and parsing paragraphs one at a time. Our new business? Scaffolding just enough reading strategies and content as we act as “guides on the side” to facilitate independent reading. In other words, the days of  spoon-feeding have got to go.

Why and How to Teach Complex Text

A growing body of research presents a challenge to current K-12 reading/English-language Arts instruction. In essence, we need to “up” the level of text complexity and provide greater opportunities for independent reading. The Common Core State English-language Arts Standards provides a convincing three-reason argument in support of these changes in instructional practice. Following this rationale, I will share ten instructional implications and address a few possible objections.

Common Core State Writing Standards

The Common Core State Writing Standards have used a rather utilitarian approach to categorize essays into two classifications: argument and informational/explanatory writing.  The approach used by the English-language Arts committee was to examine the writing assignments of freshman English college professors then define the essay accordingly for the purposes of the Common Core State Writing Standards.

How to Teach the English-language Arts Standards

Every English-language arts teacher shares the same problem—too much to teach and not enough time to teach it. So, where are the magic beans that will allow us to teach all of the have-to’s (think ELA Standards) and still have a bit of time to teach the want-tos? Following are a few suggestions to help the clever ELA teacher have her cake and eat it, too.

Should We Teach Standards or Children?

The excesses of the standards-based movement frequently run contrary to the need to differentiate instruction, according to the diagnostic needs of children.

More Articles, Free Resources, and Teaching Tips from the Pennington Publishing Blog

Bookmark and check back often for new articles and free ELA/reading resources from Pennington Publishing.

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Pennington Publishing’s mission is to provide the finest in assessment-based ELA and reading intervention resources for grades 4‒high school teachers. Mark Pennington is the author of two Standards-aligned programs: TEACHING ESSAYS BUNDLE and Grammar, Mechanics, Spelling, and Vocabulary Mark’s comprehensive Teaching Reading Strategies and the accompanying Sam and Friends Guided Reading Phonics Books help struggling readers significantly improve their reading skills in a full-year or half-year intensive reading intervention program. Make sure to check out Pennington Publishing’s free ELA and reading assessments to help you pinpoint grammar, usage, mechanics, spelling, and reading deficits.

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Knowledge of Language | Anchor Standards for Language

Tucked away in the often-overlooked recesses of the Common Core State Standards, the Anchor Standards for Language includes a practical, if somewhat ambiguous Standard: Knowledge of Language L.3. Over the past decade, I’ve noted with interest that the educational community has cherry-picked certain Standards and ignored others.

As an author of numerous ELA curricula, I assumed that the initial focus (rightfully so) of district curriculum implementation would be the reading, writing, and math Standards. In my field, I decided to write in anticipation of the next focus area. I assumed that, for ELA, it would center on the Anchor Standards for Language. These Language Standards were quite revolutionary in some circles because the Common Core authors emphasized the direct instruction of grammar, usage, and mechanics. Furthermore, the authors provocatively addressed the issue of non-Standard English and seemed to swing the pendulum toward a traditional grammar approach. Think rules, correct and incorrect usage, and application.

Over the next two years I poured hours into the development of comprehensive grades 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and high school programs to teach all of the Standards in the Language Strand. My Teaching the Language Strand title was ill-chosen. Much to my chagrin, ELA teachers rarely got past the Reading and Writing Standards. I moved the title to the subtitle position and re-named the series Grammar, Mechanics, Spelling, and Vocabulary . The longest title in the history of educational publishing. Subsequently, I broke the comprehensive program into affordable grade-level slices and achieved more sales: Teaching Grammar and MechanicsWriting Openers Language Application, Differentiated Spelling Instruction, and the Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit.

Syntax in reading and writing

Syntax in Reading and Writing

And now, Syntax in Reading and Writing.

Even within the largely ignored Anchor Standards for Language, one Standard, in particular, has received scant recognition:

The Hidden Gem: Knowledge of Language Standard L.3

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L.3
Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
The key word in the Knowledge of Language Standard is apply. The somewhat ambiguous term, language, refers to the other five Standards in the Language Strand which encompass grammar, usage, mechanics, spelling, and vocabulary. The purpose of this practical Standard is to help students more fully comprehend how language impacts reading and informs writing and apply this knowledge. The slice of my Grammar, Mechanics, Spelling, and Vocabulary series, which aligns to the Knowledge of Language Standards L.3 is Writing Openers Language Application.
Writing Openers Language Application (Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8) provides 56 whole-class, twice-per-week “quick writes,” designed to help students learn, practice, and apply grade-level grammar, usage, mechanics, sentence structure, and sentence variety Standards. The Common Core authors are certainly right that grammar should not be taught solely in isolation. Grammatical instruction needs to be taught in the reading and writing contexts and applied in spoken and written language.

The grade-level Writing Openers programs align to the Anchor Standards for Language:

Each of the 56 lessons takes about 5­-10 minutes to complete. Lessons are derived from the Conventions of Standard English (L. 1, 2), Knowledge and Use of Language Standards (L. 3), and the Language Progressive Skills found in the Common Core State Standards Language Strand. The lessons help students “Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening” (Common Core Language Strand Knowledge of Language). In other words, lots of practice in sentence revision, sentence combination, and identification of and application of grammar.

The lessons are formatted for classroom display and interactive instruction. The teacher reads and explains the Lesson Focus and Example(s) while students follow along on their own accompanying worksheet. Next, the students annotate the Lesson Focus and summarize the Key Idea(s). Afterwards, the students complete the Practice Section (sentence combining, sentence revisions). Finally, students complete the My Own Sentence writing task. The My Own Sentence serves as the formative assessment to determine whether students have mastered the Lesson Focus.

Plus, get 13 sentence structure worksheets with answers. Worksheets include simple subjects, compound subjects, simple predicates, compound predicates, simple sentences, compound sentences, complex sentences, compound-complex sentences, identifying sentence fragments, revising sentence fragments, identifying sentence run-ons, revising sentence run-ons, and identifying parallelism.

FREE SAMPLE LESSONS TO TEST-DRIVE THE PROGRAMS

Preview the Writing Openers Language Application (Grade 4) Lessons HERE.

Preview the Writing Openers Language Application (Grade 5) Lessons HERE.

Preview the Writing Openers Language Application (Grade 6) Lessons HERE.

Preview the Writing Openers Language Application (Grade 7) Lessons HERE.

Preview the Writing Openers Language Application (Grade 8) Lessons HERE.

Get the Grammar and Mechanics Grades 4-8 Instructional Scope and Sequence FREE Resource:

Get the Diagnostic Grammar and Usage Assessment FREE Resource:

Get the Diagnostic Mechanics Assessment FREE Resource:

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Consonant Digraphs for Big Kids

Consonant Digraphs for RtI

Consonant Digraphs for Big Kids

Quite a few new teachers get confused about the difference between consonant digraphs and consonant blends. In a quick Google search, I found plenty of confusion among these “reading experts.” As an MA reading specialist, let me give you the definitions, a way to remember the difference, some examples, a few teaching tips, a FREE whole-class assessment with audio file, an instructional scope and sequence, and instructional management tips. Also, let’s throw in a FREE set of five consonant digraph lessons with a short formative assessment. Wahoo!

Consonant Digraphs

Definition: Consonant digraphs are two (or three) letters which form one sound. Consonant blends are two (or three) letters which make two (or three) sounds.

How to remember the difference: When we are dealing with phonics, we are creating sounds from letters. As you know, phon means sound; so does son (think sonar)You also know that di means two and graph means writing (letters for our purpose). Thus, a consonant digraph is one sound, two letters. Don’t forget we also have vowel digraphs: one vowel sound with two letters. 

And now for consonant blends… When you blend spices in your favorite chili recipe, you can still taste the chili powder, salt, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Each spice keeps its individual flavor. Thus, a consonant blend puts together two or three letters, each keeping its own sound. Note: Be careful not to think of a blender regarding consonant blends. My Vitamix® takes away every flavor from every ingredient in my daily protein drink. In other words, each consonant phoneme (speech sound) is retained when decoding the consonant blend spellings.

Consonant Digraph Examples: The “h” Brothers

Teaching Consonant Digraphs

Consonant Digraphs

Teaching Tips

Make sure to teach the breathy /w/ sound for the “wh” digraph. The Middle English pronunciation before the Great Vowel Shift (beginning in about 1350 A.D.) was actually two sounds before they evolved into one. Contrast the /w/ “wh” as in whale with the /w/ “w” as in wolf and you’ll hear the difference. Note: The sound-spelling cards I use in my Teaching Reading Strategies reading intervention program are all animals. Thankfully, there is a critter known as an “x-ray” fish. 

Make sure to teach the two sounds of the “th” spellings and “sh” spellings at some point. The differences are difficult to hear for most students (and many teachers). I suggest sticking with the voiced /th/ as in python and then moving to the unvoiced (the same with the “sh” consonant digraph). See the instructional sequence below for the blending sample words I use. Check out my article on “How to Teach the Voiced and Unvoiced ‘th'” if this confuses you.

Do not elongate the endings of consonant digraphs. I just got finished watching a video of a proud principal teaching a group of students the /sh/ consonant digraph. The principal was putting her index finger in front of pursed lips while she said (and had students repeat) “shhhhhhhhhh.” When the principal asked her students to blend the /sh/ + /ĕ/ + /d/, the students dutifully responded with “”shhhhhhhhhhed.” The perplexed principal wisely called on the teacher for help.

Lastly, I don’t teach the “ph” consonant blend until we get to silent letters. It’s a Greek sound-spelling, but then you knew that!

Assessment, Instructional Scope and Sequence, Forming Groups, Time, Instruction, and Practice

When to Introduce Consonant Digraphs

Consonant Digraphs Instructional Sequence

The first step is to determine what is missing from the your students’ knowledge of the consonant digraph phonics patterns. Teachers have used my FREE reading assessments for years to pinpoint phonemic awareness, phonics, and sight words deficits. For the purposes of this article, the Consonant Sounds Phonics Assessment pinpoints which consonant digraph sound-spellings students have not yet mastered.

The second step is to follow a research-tested instructional scope and sequence. Most all explicit, systematic phonics programs begin with short vowels and layer on consonant sounds and consonant blends. Next, phonics programs begin with the long vowel sound-spellings or teach the silent final e sound-spellings.

The third step is to group students who have demonstrated that they have not yet achieved mastery with the consonant digraph sound-spellings. Teachers use a variety of small group formats. Literacy centers have become a popular option to provide remedial instruction within some centers (stations), while offering grade-level and/or accelerated instruction in other centers.

The fourth step is to set aside the necessary time to teach the consonant digraph sound-spellings. Initial instruction takes longer; however, remedial instruction can be accomplished quite quickly, because gap-filling builds upon some degree of prior knowledge, albeit a shaky foundation. Typically, five 20-minute workshops will facilitate mastery as indicated by formative assessments.

The fifth step is to provide effective instruction and practice for the consonant digraph sound-spellings and to use a formative assessment to determine mastery. Teachers need to have back-up lessons in case the student does not master the consonant digraphs on the formative assessment. A solid foundation will allow students to learn additional reading skills.

Intervention Program Science of Reading

The Science of Reading Intervention Program

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Word Recognition includes explicit, scripted instruction and practice with the 5 Daily Google Slide Activities every reading intervention student needs: 1. Phonemic Awareness and Morphology 2. Blending, Segmenting, and Spelling 3. Sounds and Spellings (including handwriting) 4. Heart Words Practice 5. Sam and Friends Phonics Books (decodables). Plus, digital and printable sound wall cards and speech articulation songs. Print versions are available for all activities. First Half of the Year Program (55 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Language Comprehension resources are designed for students who have completed the word recognition program or have demonstrated basic mastery of the alphabetic code and can read with some degree of fluency. The program features the 5 Weekly Language Comprehension Activities: 1. Background Knowledge Mentor Texts 2. Academic Language, Greek and Latin Morphology, Figures of Speech, Connotations, Multiple Meaning Words 3. Syntax in Reading 4. Reading Comprehension Strategies 5. Literacy Knowledge (Narrative and Expository). Second Half of the Year Program (30 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Assessment-based Instruction provides diagnostically-based “second chance” instructional resources. The program includes 13 comprehensive assessments and matching instructional resources to fill in the yet-to-be-mastered gaps in phonemic awareness, alphabetic awareness, phonics, fluency (with YouTube modeled readings), Heart Words and Phonics Games, spelling patterns, grammar, usage, and mechanics, syllabication and morphology, executive function shills. Second Half of the Year Program (25 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program BUNDLE  includes all 3 program components for the comprehensive, state-of-the-art (and science) grades 4-adult full-year program. Scripted, easy-to-teach, no prep, no need for time-consuming (albeit valuable) LETRS training or O-G certification… Learn as you teach and get results NOW for your students. Print to speech with plenty of speech to print instructional components.

Get the SCRIP Comprehension Strategies FREE Resource:

Get the Diagnostic ELA and Reading Assessments FREE Resource:

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Consonant-Final e for Big Kids

Silent Final e for RtI

Silent Final e for Big Kids

Students find the consonant-final e to be a frustrating component of  our English sound-spelling system. In particular, second-language learners struggle with both pronunciations and spellings of silent final words. However, this tricky sound-spelling actually helps more than it confuses.

We have those late Middle English folks from Chaucer’s Day (before the Great Vowel Shift beginning about 1350 A.D.) to blame and thank for the silent final e. Some of you must have read the old version of his Canterbury’s Tales in high school or college. In the book, words such as care were pronounced as two syllables (kā/ruh), rather than one. The final was added on to signal an object, not a subject noun, and a plural, not a singular noun. The English kept the spelling, but dropped the suffix syllable sound.

Kids often ask, “Why do we have to learn it (the silent e), when we don’t have to say it?” Following are eight decent responses:

  1. The silent final says so, and she’s the boss. After all, silence speaks louder than words. If a word pronunciation is confusing, the silent final steps up to be the “bossy final e” to make the other letters make sounds which make sense to us. 
  2. The consonant-final helps us divide words into syllables and makes pronunciation easier. Remember that every syllable must have a vowel. If we didn’t have the the silent final e, how could we pronounce a word such as stapl?  Sta/ple is much simpler.
  3. The consonant-final signals that a word ending in an is not a plural. For example, “I hope she has sense enough not to break her promise” lets us know that it’s just one sense and just one promise, not more than oneAfter all, “”I hope she has sens enough not to break her promis” might be confusing.
  4. The consonant-final e usually signals a preceding long vowel sound. For example, hide and note (long vowel sounds) keep readers from reading hid and not (short vowel sounds). Even most of the vowel digraphs (another result of the Great Vowel Shift) are long vowel sounds signaled by the silent final e, for example leave and owe. Yes, it’s true there are exceptions, which we have to memorize as “outlaw words.” Many of these sight words were common Middle English words that the Brits refused to change, such as love, give, and have.
  5. The consonant-final signals soft /c/ and /g/ sounds, such as prince and huge.
  6. The silent final is used to show the difference in homophones, such as in or and ore.
  7. The consonant-final e prevents i, u, and v from being the last letter in a word. For example, we would rather read about people who lie about their true love, rather than about people who li about their tru lov.
  8. The consonant-final makes the /th/ a voiced sound, such as with clothe, breathe, bathe, and teethe. Check out my article on “How to Teach the Voiced and Unvoiced ‘th'” if this confuses you.

Some students find the consonant-final to be hard to spell when adding on suffixes. This consonant-final song might help!

Consonant-Final e Rap (Play the audio file HERE.)

Drop the final e when adding on an ending if it starts with a vowel up front.

Keep the final e when adding on an ending if it starts with a consonant.

Also keep the e when you hear soft “c” or “g”

Before “able” or “o-u-s”

Mostly keep the e when the ending is “v-e”,

“e-e”, or even “o-e”.

The first step is to determine what is missing from the your students’ knowledge of the consonant-final e phonics patterns. Teachers have used my reading assessments for years to pinpoint phonemic awareness, phonics, and sight words deficits. For the purposes of this article, the Vowel Sounds Phonics Assessment pinpoints which silent final e sound-spellings students have not yet mastered.

Silent Final e Phonics

Silent Final e Instructional Sequence

The second step is to follow a research-tested instructional scope and sequence. Most all explicit, systematic phonics programs begin with short vowels and layer on consonant sounds and consonant blends. Next, phonics programs begin with the long vowel sound-spellings or teach the silent final e sound-spellings.

The third step is to group students who have demonstrated that they have not yet achieved mastery with the consonant-final sound-spellings. Teachers use a variety of small group formats. Literacy centers have become a popular option to provide remedial instruction within some centers (stations), while offering grade-level and/or accelerated instruction in other centers.

The fourth step is to set aside the necessary time to teach the consonant-final sound-spellings. Initial instruction takes longer; however, remedial instruction can be accomplished quite quickly, because gap-filling builds upon some degree of prior knowledge, albeit a shaky foundation. Typically, five 20-minute workshops will facilitate mastery as indicated by formative assessments.

Silent Final e Phonics

Silent Final e Sound-Spellings

The fifth step is to provide effective instruction and practice for the consonant-final sound-spellings and to use a formative assessment to determine mastery. Teachers need to have back-up lessons in case the student does not master the silent final e on the formative assessment. A solid foundation will allow students to learn additional reading skills.

The sixth step is to demonstrate how the consonant final-produces many Heart Words (words with one or more non-phonetic parts), but that many of these have their own spelling patterns. For example, because English does not end words in “v,” the final is added to complete the word. Heart Words such as live, love, and have form a predictable pattern and can move from “parts to learn by heart” to sight word status with practice. Learn how to teach Heart Words in this article.

Teachers who would like to use my consonant-final phonics lessons and formative assessment are welcome to download this workshop from my Teaching Reading Strategies program:

Intervention Program Science of Reading

The Science of Reading Intervention Program

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Word Recognition includes explicit, scripted instruction and practice with the 5 Daily Google Slide Activities every reading intervention student needs: 1. Phonemic Awareness and Morphology 2. Blending, Segmenting, and Spelling 3. Sounds and Spellings (including handwriting) 4. Heart Words Practice 5. Sam and Friends Phonics Books (decodables). Plus, digital and printable sound wall cards and speech articulation songs. Print versions are available for all activities. First Half of the Year Program (55 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Language Comprehension resources are designed for students who have completed the word recognition program or have demonstrated basic mastery of the alphabetic code and can read with some degree of fluency. The program features the 5 Weekly Language Comprehension Activities: 1. Background Knowledge Mentor Texts 2. Academic Language, Greek and Latin Morphology, Figures of Speech, Connotations, Multiple Meaning Words 3. Syntax in Reading 4. Reading Comprehension Strategies 5. Literacy Knowledge (Narrative and Expository). Second Half of the Year Program (30 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Assessment-based Instruction provides diagnostically-based “second chance” instructional resources. The program includes 13 comprehensive assessments and matching instructional resources to fill in the yet-to-be-mastered gaps in phonemic awareness, alphabetic awareness, phonics, fluency (with YouTube modeled readings), Heart Words and Phonics Games, spelling patterns, grammar, usage, and mechanics, syllabication and morphology, executive function shills. Second Half of the Year Program (25 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program BUNDLE  includes all 3 program components for the comprehensive, state-of-the-art (and science) grades 4-adult full-year program. Scripted, easy-to-teach, no prep, no need for time-consuming (albeit valuable) LETRS training or O-G certification… Learn as you teach and get results NOW for your students. Print to speech with plenty of speech to print instructional components.

Get the SCRIP Comprehension Strategies FREE Resource:

Get the Diagnostic ELA and Reading Assessments FREE Resource:

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How Can I Get My Child to Read?

How to Get My Child to Read

How Can I Get My Child to Read?

“How can I get my child to read?” is probably the question that I am asked most by parents. I’m Mark Pennington, M.A. Reading Specialist, teacher, and author of Teaching Reading Strategies. Variations of the question tend to include “My child hates to read!” and, sadly, “My child doesn’t understand what she (or often he) reads.” Don’t worry, parents. You are not alone. These are also the questions that your teachers ask me privately (never in front of their colleagues).

As a dad of three boys, I’ve dealt with the same questions. Despite the fact that we have a literate household with books galore, book gifts for birthdays and Christmas, places to read with good lighting… Despite the fact that my wife and I are voracious readers… Despite the fact that I am a teacher (and reading specialist)… The boys did not like reading.

Yes, we read every day with each of our boys. Yes, all three were reading quite fluently before entering kindergarten. As an aside, the kindergarten teacher (now retired) of our youngest son now lives in our neighborhood. She told me recently how Kenny was such a pain because he knew all of his letter, sounds, and spellings on Day 1 and was frustrated that every other child did not. The teacher told me that one day she asked a student to tell her the sound that the letter m makes. As she waited patiently for the child’s response, Kenny shouted out, “He needs to be in that special group you have.” How embarrassing!

But, aren’t the teachers supposed to get my child to read? Isn’t this their job?

They certainly did so, in class. But independent reading was another matter entirely. My wife and I can’t remember any teachers from kindergarten through sixth grade who did not assign nightly independent reading (usually 15 or 20 minutes) for our three boys. I still think it’s the best homework to assign. However, I can’t remember any accountability attached to this reading, except for the required parent signature to indicate that the reading was done. Three unfortunate exceptions were reading response logs from one teacher that were graded with check marks for completion (not read), a few oral book reports, and a couple of dreaded book projects–one a paper maché mask representing the theme of the book (Yes, really) and a few shoebox dioramas. The take-away is that the assigned reading and few attempts at accountability did not increase my boys’ love of reading.

And, I’m going to be a bit harsh here… The nightly independent reading assignments did not improve the reading fluency and comprehension skills of my boys. My wife and I had to do that.

I remember watching, okay spying, on my oldest son (unknown to him) doing his independent reading in a terrific book, which he chose, when he was in third grade. I watched him stare at the same page without turning to the next page for twenty solid minutes. The microwave beeper went off, and he dutifully closed the book and got up from his desk chair as I appeared in his bedroom doorway.

“All done?” I asked.

“Yep, 20 minutes,” he replied.

I had to do something.

About the same time as the incident described above, I had enrolled in a masters degree program reading specialist program at Cal State Sacramento. One of my professors surprised me (and the class) with the research regarding self-questioning strategies. What surprised us was not that the internal reader-author dialogue was important, but that reader-generated questions of the text produced greater comprehension than did teacher or publisher-generated comprehension questions. Wow!

I wondered if question prompts might help my son and my students generate questions as they read and would these questions increase concentration and reading comprehension.

I designed the SCRIP (Summarize, Connect, Re-think, Interpret, and Predict) Comprehension Strategies to permit the reader to explore and question a text independently, instead of being solely dependent upon author subtitles, publisher, or teacher questions and/or study helps. I also designed these question prompts to work with both expository and narrative text. Finally, I crafted the strategies to provide a language of instruction between children and their parents at home and students and teachers in the classroom. Yes, you can try them out. Get five free lessons and bookmarks at the end of this article.

Having earned my masters degree as a reading specialist, I moved from my high school teaching position to that of an elementary reading specialist. Assigned to several elementary schools, I began sharing my SCRIP Comprehension Strategy Questions with teachers.

Teachers commented on how the SCRIP method increased reader engagement with the text. Kids said that asking questions of the text “made the authors seem like they were talking to us.”

I loved walking around with principals during class visitations and hearing the words Summarize, Connect, Re-think, Interpret, and Predict in teacher questions and, especially, in student questions and answers. The language of instruction was really catching on!

Teachers loved how the method worked for both expository and narrative texts. Being teachers, they starting creating. Soon I saw SCRIP questions as part of marginal annotations (margin notes). A perfect application! Next, I saw SCRIP questions added to Cornell Notes templates. Fantastic… it works with lectures, too! Teachers also began using the SCRIP questions in literature circles and in online book clubs.

I developed SCRIP Comprehension Bookmarks (you’ll get these in your free download… don’t worry) to serve as nice prompts. Parents begin noticing the bookmarks and asked how to use them to supervise independent reading. I started doing more and more parent workshops to teach them how to provide accountability for nightly independent reading homework. The SCRIP comprehension strategy questions gave parents and their children something specific to talk about regarding the child’s schoolwork and reading. At last! Something better to discuss than the dreaded “How was your day at school?” Teachers even began reducing the amount of in-class independent reading because the parents were doing at home with their child what the teacher could not do with thirty or so kids. Accountability need not destroy a child’s love of reading. In fact, parents even told me how much more their children are enjoying reading, now that they understand what they are reading.

Try the SCRIP Comprehension Strategy Questions with your children (or students). Get five one-page fairy tales, each introducing the SCRIP strategies, and a nice SCRIP bookmark to print.

Intervention Program Science of Reading

The Science of Reading Intervention Program

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Word Recognition includes explicit, scripted instruction and practice with the 5 Daily Google Slide Activities every reading intervention student needs: 1. Phonemic Awareness and Morphology 2. Blending, Segmenting, and Spelling 3. Sounds and Spellings (including handwriting) 4. Heart Words Practice 5. Sam and Friends Phonics Books (decodables). Plus, digital and printable sound wall cards and speech articulation songs. Print versions are available for all activities. First Half of the Year Program (55 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Language Comprehension resources are designed for students who have completed the word recognition program or have demonstrated basic mastery of the alphabetic code and can read with some degree of fluency. The program features the 5 Weekly Language Comprehension Activities: 1. Background Knowledge Mentor Texts 2. Academic Language, Greek and Latin Morphology, Figures of Speech, Connotations, Multiple Meaning Words 3. Syntax in Reading 4. Reading Comprehension Strategies 5. Literacy Knowledge (Narrative and Expository). Second Half of the Year Program (30 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Assessment-based Instruction provides diagnostically-based “second chance” instructional resources. The program includes 13 comprehensive assessments and matching instructional resources to fill in the yet-to-be-mastered gaps in phonemic awareness, alphabetic awareness, phonics, fluency (with YouTube modeled readings), Heart Words and Phonics Games, spelling patterns, grammar, usage, and mechanics, syllabication and morphology, executive function shills. Second Half of the Year Program (25 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program BUNDLE  includes all 3 program components for the comprehensive, state-of-the-art (and science) grades 4-adult full-year program. Scripted, easy-to-teach, no prep, no need for time-consuming (albeit valuable) LETRS training or O-G certification… Learn as you teach and get results NOW for your students. Print to speech with plenty of speech to print instructional components.

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Read-Study Method for Textbooks

A reader of my Pennington Publishing Blog asked me to explain how my PQ RAR reading-study strategy (Preview-Question-Read-Answer-Review) for textbooks and expository/informational writing works with my SCRIP Comprehension Strategy Questions.  An excellent question.

Background

I used and taught the classic SQ3R (Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review) method of textbook reading for years and asked one of the reading professor in my MA program about the technique. He stated that considerable research had demonstrated the efficacy of the S and Q steps (Survey and Question); however, no empirical research seemed to warrant using the last two “R’s” (Recite and Review).  By the way, the related PQ3R strategy simply substituted Preview for the anachronistic Survey.

I went home and over the next few days hammered out my PQ RAR reading-study strategy (Preview-Question-Read-Answer-Review). I added the last R, Review, to the professor’s suggestion of A, Answer, because not all of the reader’s self-generated questions will be answered by the text. Some were answered by the author, but were not noted by the reader during the initial reading; some were not addressed by the text; some require additional research.

As a reading specialist, I shared the PQ RAR reading-study strategy with quite a few teachers at seven different sites and through professional development. Teachers and their students much preferred the PQ RAR reading-study strategy compared to the traditional SQ3R or PQ3R strategies. However, I knew that a critical element was missing.

Weeks later I shared my PQ RAR reading-study strategy with the same professor and my colleagues in the class. One of my fellow teachers commented on the first R (Read) saying, “Simply telling a student to read, looking for the answers to subtitle questions, is clearly inadequate. To build comprehension, we have to teach readers to cue themselves as they read to “talk to the text.” Brilliant!

The professor responded, “It’s both/and.” He first affirmed the importance of the Q (Question) step of developing and writing text-dependent questions from the subtitles and the end of chapter publisher questions. Next, affirmed the importance of the internal reader dialogue and self-monitoring comprehension during the R (Read) step. What he said next surprised all of us in the class.

SCRIP Comprehension Strategies

SCRIP Comprehension Strategy Questions

The professor shared the research regarding self-questioning strategies. He summarized, ” The research shows that reader-generated questions of the text produce greater comprehension than teacher or publisher-generated comprehension questions.” Clearly, I needed to add something to the R (Read) step in my PQ RAR reading-study strategy.

So, back to the drawing board.

I designed the SCRIP (Summarize, Connect, Re-think, Interpret, and Predict) comprehension cues to cue the reader to explore and question a text independently, instead of being solely dependent upon author subtitles, publisher, or teacher questions and/or study helps. Now the first R (Read) made sense in my PQ RAR reading-study strategy .

Also, although the PQ RAR reading-study strategy is designed for expository text, I carefully designed the SCRIP question prompts to work with both expository/informational and narrative text.

Read-Study Method for Textbooks

Read-Study Method

Teachers commented on how the SCRIP method increased reader engagement with the text. Students said that asking questions of the text “made the authors seem like they were talking to us.”

I loved walking around with principals during class visitations and hearing the words Summarize, Connect, Re-think, Interpret, and Predict in teacher questions and, especially, in student questions and answers. The language of instruction was really catching on!

Teachers loved how the method worked for both expository and narrative texts. Being teachers, they starting creating. Soon I saw SCRIP questions as part of marginal annotations (margin notes), in literature circles and in online book clubs. Next, I saw SCRIP questions added to Cornell Notes templates. Fantastic… it works with lectures, too!

Years later I wrote and published the digitally-based Reading Fluency and Comprehension Toolkit. This affordable program provides 43 expository animal fluency articles and 43 corresponding animal comprehension worksheets (fillable PDFs for distance learning)–each with five SCRIP strategy questions (answers provided)–along with CORRESPONDING YOUTUBE VIDEOS WITH ALL 43 FLUENCIES RECORDED AT 3 DIFFERENT READING SPEEDS–129 IN ALL. PERFECT FOR MODELED READINGS.

Get the SCRIP Comprehension Cues FREE Resource:

Intervention Program Science of Reading

The Science of Reading Intervention Program

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Word Recognition (Phonemic Awareness, Spelling, and Phonics) includes explicit, scripted instruction and practice with the 6 Daily Google Slide Activities every reading intervention student needs: 1. Phonemic Awareness 2. Blending, Segmenting, and Spelling 3. Sounds and Spellings (including handwriting) 4. Heart Words Practice 5. Sam and Friends Phonics Books (decodables). 6. Elkonin Sound Box Spelling Dictations and digital and printable sound wall cards and speech articulation songs. Print versions are available for all activities. First Half of the Year Program (18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Language Comprehension resources are designed for students who have completed the word recognition program or have demonstrated basic mastery of the alphabetic code and can read with some degree of fluency. The program features the 5 Weekly Language Comprehension Activities: 1. Background Knowledge Mentor Texts 2. Academic Language, Greek and Latin Morphology, Figures of Speech, Connotations, Multiple Meaning Words 3. Syntax in Reading 4. Reading Comprehension Strategies 5. Literacy Knowledge (Narrative and Expository). Second Half of the Year Program (18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Assessment-based Instruction provides diagnostically-based “second chance” instructional resources. The program includes 13 comprehensive assessments and matching instructional resources to fill in the yet-to-be-mastered gaps in phonemic awareness, alphabetic awareness, phonics, fluency (with YouTube modeled readings), Heart Words and Phonics Games, spelling patterns, grammar, usage, and mechanics, syllabication and morphology, executive function shills. Second Half of the Year Program to Pair with Language Comprehension (18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program BUNDLE  includes all 3 program components for the comprehensive, state-of-the-art (and science) grades 4-adult full-year program. Scripted, easy-to-teach, no prep, no need for time-consuming (albeit valuable) LETRS training or O-G certification… Learn as you teach and get results NOW for your students. Print to speech with plenty of speech to print instructional components.

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How to Teach Writing Skills

Writing is Taught and Caught

Writing Skills: Taught and Caught

Now that teachers have had plenty of professional development in how to write arguments (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.1) and informative/explanatory texts (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.2), teachers are looking at their students’ essays or narratives (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.3) with a collective sigh. Students just cannot write.

Students seem to understand the content, they know the demands and constraints of the writing genre, they can dissect a writing prompt, they know the writing process… but the words they use, the sentences they construct, and the intangible feeling our student writers convey simply do not engage their readers (teachers especially).

The Problem

Many teachers are not equipping their students with the tools they need in their tool belts. Or, just as bad, teachers introduce the tools, but don’t provide the practice students need to master the tools.

The Solution

Two time-proven solutions to these problems take little time, but do necessitate some instruction and practice: sentence revisions and literary response. Writing teachers (and writing research) have found these tools to be especially helpful for developing writers.

By sentence revision, I mean the word choice and structure of our language (the grammar, usage, and syntax). It’s the how something is written (and re-written). Think sentence variety, sentence combining, grammar and proper usage in the writing context. The skills of sentence revision are primarily taught.

By literary response, I mean writing style: primarily the style of literary mentors, who not only have something to say, but know how to say it in both expository and narrative writing. Think mentor texts and rhetorical stance (voice, audience, purpose, and form). The skills of writing style are primarily caught.

Fortunately, the Common Core authors do acknowledge the importance of teaching both sentence revisions and literary response in both the Anchor Standards for Writing and the Anchor Standards for Language (highlighting my own):

Writing Anchor Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.10
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Language Anchor Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L.3
Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.

Suggestions

Keep your focus on both the content and process of writing. Maintain a balance of extended writing process assignments (especially essays and stories) and short, say twice-per-week writing skill development, especially using sentence revisions and literary response activities.

The author of this post, Mark Pennington, provides grades 4-8 teachers with grade-level sentence revision resources and literary response resources in two instructional formats: twice-per-week writing openers (or writers workshop mini-lessons) and literacy centers.

The author’s TEACHING ESSAYS BUNDLE includes the three printable and digital resources students need to master the CCSS W.1 argumentative

Teaching Essays

TEACHING ESSAYS BUNDLE

and W.2 informational/explanatory essays. Each no-prep resource allows students to work at their own paces via mastery learning. How to Teach Essays includes 42 skill-based essay strategy worksheets (fillable PDFs and 62 Google slides), beginning with simple 3-word paragraphs and proceeding step-by-step to complex multi-paragraph essays. One skill builds upon another. The Essay Skills Worksheets include 97 worksheets (printables and 97 Google slides) to help teachers differentiate writing instruction with both remedial and advanced writing skills. The Eight Writing Process Essays (printables and 170 Google slides) each feature an on-demand diagnostic essay assessment, writing prompt with connected reading, brainstorming, graphic organizer, response, revision, and editing activities. Plus, each essay includes a detailed analytical (not holistic) rubric for assessment-based learning.

*****

Get the Writing Skills FREE Resource:

 

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Close Reading

Close Reading

Close Reading: Don’t Read Too Closely

The close reading strategy is beneficial for building comprehension of both narrative and expository text. However, we do need a mid-course correction. As with many instructional strategies, teachers latch onto the “new and improved” and sometimes forget the “tried and true.”

In the following articles, MA reading specialist, seventh grade ELA teacher, and author Mark Pennington piles on the reading research and in-class experience to help teachers use the close reading strategy properly and apply the concurrent reading strategies to help their students access challenging text.

Each article includes at least one got-to-have freebie: from sample lessons to narrative and expository close reading templates.

If you haven’t yet perused Pennington Publishing’s grades 4-8 assessment-based ELA and reading intervention resources, each article with include a short promo to entice your exploration. While in mind, you should certainly check out the free downloads of ELA and reading intervention diagnostic assessments as well as the other Pennington Publishing blog articles neatly categorized according to your interests. At last count I’ve written over 600 articles in the ELA and reading field and have been overly-generous (so say my colleagues) is equipping teachers with free downloads to help teachers better serve their students.

Your comments are certainly welcome on any of the individual articles. Mark… Oh, my email is mark@penningtonpublishing.com

Close Reading Articles from the Pennington Publishing Blog

Close Reading Casualties

https://blog.penningtonpublishing.com/reading/close-reading-casualties/ 

This article explains how the over-emphasis of the close reading strategy has decreased Tier 2 vocabulary acquisition and reading fluency. The author provides suggestions regarding how to practice reading fluency and independent comprehension strategies (including self-generated questions). At the end of the article, a free download sample of the author’s Reading Academic Literacy Center is available.

Close Reading Narrative Worksheet

https://blog.penningtonpublishing.com/reading/close-reading-narrative-worksheet/

The author tears into the counterproductive practice of close reading advocates, who in their desire to promote reader independence, actually achieve the converse by prohibiting pre-reading strategies designed to both access prior knowledge and pre-teach key vocabulary and concepts. Citing years of reading research, the author brings out the big guns to suggest that close reading needs a bit of tweaking to remain a viable reading strategy. Teachers will be able to download a free narrative close reading template.

Close Reading Expository Worksheet

https://blog.penningtonpublishing.com/reading/close-reading-expository-worksheet/

The author provides historical perspective on the close reading strategy (actually a recycled strategy from the 1950s and 1960s) and argues that there are four key components of the close reading strategy that teachers need to keep on doing. However, there are also three key reading strategies which need to supplement close reading to increase reader comprehension and independence. Teachers will love the free download of an expository close reading template.

Independent Close Reading

https://blog.penningtonpublishing.com/reading/independent-close-reading/

In this article the author faults the exclusivity of the text-dependent questions (a key component of the close reading strategy). While agreeing with the authors of the Common Core State Standards that the old reader response strategies of the whole language movement led teachers and students to go beyond the text into the relatively irrelevant and tangential world of focusing on what the reading means to me, the close reading fanatics have dumped decades of solid reading research, which proves the validity of reader self-generated questioning strategies. Those who adhere to text-dependent publisher or teacher questions at the expense of reader questions return students to reading to answer questions, rather than reading to find out what the author means. Teachers will be able to download a useful set of resources: The SCRIP Comprehension Strategies resource includes posters for each of the five comprehension strategies to prompt self-generated questions, SCRIP comprehension bookmarks, and five lessons to teach these strategies.

Close Reading: Don’t Read Too Closely

https://blog.penningtonpublishing.com/reading/close-reading-dont-read-too-closely/

This article has produced quite a response. The pin associated with the article went semi-viral, indicating a backlash against close reading. The author goes out of his way to state his support of the close reading strategy as one of many effective reading strategies, but cites the key reading researchers who see close reading as a good thing that needs to be better. If you’re interested in cited reading research on close reading with all the links, this article is for you. The focus of the article is historical: how close reading developed as a strategy to access challenging text. Sometimes it helps to know where something comes from to understand what it is.

English-Language Arts and Reading Intervention Articles and Resources 

Bookmark and check back often for new articles and free ELA/reading resources from Pennington Publishing.

*****

Intervention Program Science of Reading

The Science of Reading Intervention Program

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Word Recognition includes explicit, scripted, sounds to print instruction and practice with the 5 Daily Google Slide Activities every grades 4-adult reading intervention student needs: 1. Phonemic Awareness and Morphology 2. Blending, Segmenting, and Spelling 3. Sounds and Spellings (including handwriting) 4. Heart Words Practice 5. Sam and Friends Phonics Books (decodables). Plus, digital and printable sound wall cards, speech articulation songs, sounds to print games, and morphology walls. Print versions are available for all activities. First Half of the Year Program (55 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Language Comprehension resources are designed for students who have completed the word recognition program or have demonstrated basic mastery of the alphabetic code and can read with some degree of fluency. The program features the 5 Weekly Language Comprehension Activities: 1. Background Knowledge Mentor Texts 2. Academic Language, Greek and Latin Morphology, Figures of Speech, Connotations, Multiple Meaning Words 3. Syntax in Reading 4. Reading Comprehension Strategies 5. Literacy Knowledge (Narrative and Expository). Second Half of the Year Program (30 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Assessment-based Instruction provides diagnostically-based “second chance” instructional resources. The program includes 13 comprehensive assessments and matching instructional resources to fill in the yet-to-be-mastered gaps in phonemic awareness, alphabetic awareness, phonics, fluency (with YouTube modeled readings), Heart Words and Phonics Games, spelling patterns, grammar, usage, and mechanics, syllabication and morphology, executive function shills. Second Half of the Year Program (25 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program BUNDLE  includes all 3 program components for the comprehensive, state-of-the-art (and science) grades 4-adult full-year program. Scripted, easy-to-teach, no prep, no need for time-consuming (albeit valuable) LETRS training or O-G certification… Learn as you teach and get results NOW for your students. Print to speech with plenty of speech to print instructional components.

Click the SCIENCE OF READING INTERVENTION PROGRAM RESOURCES for detailed program description, sample lessons, and video overviews. Click the links to get these ready-to-use resources, developed by a teacher (Mark Pennington, MA reading specialist) for teachers and their students.

Get the SCRIP Comprehension Cues FREE Resource:

Get the Diagnostic ELA and Reading Assessments FREE Resource:

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