What do We Need to do as Educators for Unfinished Learning in Phonics and Reading?
Hey there, fellow educators! We all know that one of our main goals is to guide our students on their learning journey. But let's be honest, when it comes to unfinished phonics and reading education, it can sometimes feel like a puzzle trying to find the best strategies to fill in those knowledge gaps. In this article, we're going to dive into some top-notch recommendations for creating interventions that align with the shifts in the phonics-focused reading classroom.
What is Unfinished Learning in Phonics and Reading?
Quick View:
Unfinished learning in phonics and reading is like a book missing some pages, where students lack certain skills expected at their grade level.
It can involve struggles with understanding the relationship between sounds and letters, decoding words, or phonological awareness in phonics.
In reading, it might manifest as difficulties with fluency, comprehension, or vocabulary.
The focus is on identifying what students need to learn next, not what they don't know.
Targeted instruction and interventions are used to address these gaps, preparing students for grade-level content.
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Think of unfinished learning in phonics and reading like a book with some pages missing. It's when our students haven't quite picked up all the knowledge or skills they need to really dive into their current grade-level work. This could be certain phonics and reading skills that we'd usually expect them to have under their belt at their grade level, but for some reason, they're still working on it.
In phonics, maybe they're finding it tough to fully grasp the relationship between sounds and letters, or perhaps decoding words is a challenge. They might even be wrestling with understanding the sounds within words, which we call phonological awareness.
When it comes to reading, unfinished learning might show up as a student finding it hard to read smoothly and with expression, which is what we call fluency. Or maybe they're having trouble understanding what they're reading, or they're stumbling over vocabulary.
But here's the thing to remember: unfinished learning isn't about focusing on what our students don't know. It's about figuring out what they need to learn next. Our aim is to spot these gaps and then use targeted instruction and interventions to help fill them in. That way, our students are equipped to successfully take on grade-level content.
What do we need to do as Educators for Unfinished Learning in Phonics and Reading?
Quick View:
Avoid isolating students from grade-level content or solely using lower-grade materials.
Focus targeted phonics interventions on crucial content for future success in reading skills.
Use student data to identify and prioritize weak areas for personalized support.
Ensure content coherence across grades and create activities that support grade-level instruction.
Maintain instructional rigor, avoiding shortcuts that undermine learning.
Provide systematic phonics instruction and practice opportunities to develop fluency and mastery.
Apply whole-class instruction principles to interventions, ensuring access to grade-level content.
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Navigating Potential Pitfalls:
When we're tackling unfinished phonics and reading education, it's crucial to sidestep some common pitfalls. Cutting students off from grade-level content or only relying on materials from earlier grades can slow down their progress. It's important to remember that every student, no matter their current understanding level, deserves access to rich, grade-level instruction.
Targeted Phonics Intervention:
Here's an idea - let's focus our targeted phonics intervention on the content that's most vital for success in later phonics and reading skills. By digging into student data and pinpointing weak areas, like phonological awareness or decoding strategies, we can prioritize key concepts. This allows us to provide customized support to bridge the gap and elevate students to meet grade-level expectations.
Promoting Coherence and Connections:
To boost understanding and coherence in phonics and reading education, it's essential to map out content across different grades and design activities that back up grade-level instruction. By drawing clear connections to students' prior knowledge and building on foundational skills, we can improve their comprehension and application of phonics and reading concepts.
Keeping Up The Rigor:
In our phonics and reading intervention, it's crucial to keep the rigor of the standards in mind. Let's skip teaching shortcuts or tricks that could undermine learning. Instead, let's focus on delivering systematic phonics instruction and offering plenty of practice opportunities for students to develop fluency and mastery.
Seeing the Bigger Picture:
When we put interventions into action, it's important to keep our eyes on the larger landscape of phonics and reading education. This means applying the same principles we use in planning whole-class instruction. By giving access to grade-level content and shifts-aligned instruction, students can develop a comprehensive understanding of phonics and reading concepts and skills.
Want Resources to Help with Unfinished Learning in Phonics and Reading?
Let's shift gears and discuss solutions for unfinished phonics learning. Imagine having a curriculum that not only aligns perfectly with the Science of Reading (SOR) principles but also dovetails seamlessly with LETRS training. Sounds like a dream, right? Well, it's not just a dream, it's reality! Meet the Phonics Lessons Plans and Intervention for Older Students Bundle.
This is no ordinary curriculum. It's been meticulously crafted to include all the fundamental components of reading - phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. But what sets it apart is its thoughtful structure. It's more than a collection of lessons; it's a comprehensive guide that directs you on how to effectively apply these lessons in your classroom.
The best part? You can get it right now on Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT)! Take a look at it here. or You can get it at the Little Elephant Teacher Store here! This could be the game-changing resource you've been searching for. Wave goodbye to the relentless hunt for resources and welcome a curriculum that genuinely aligns with LETRS and SOR. Your teaching journey is about to get a whole lot smoother! For more insights into these lessons, check out this blog post: 13 Powerful Lessons for Phonics that You Need to Know.
Here's what your students will learn:
The link between letters and sounds (phonemes) to form letter-sound correspondences.
How to decode and blend new and unfamiliar words.
How to map phoneme-grapheme for new and unknown words.
How to connect phonics skills to text and boost their reading fluency scores.
They'll get plenty of purposeful phonics practice through a variety of activities.
Here's what's included:
226 Phonics Lesson Plans - These plans have everything you need for all phonemes. Currently, there are 226 lessons and counting.
Phonics Student Workbook - Each student will have their own ready-made phonics packet. Each lesson is 4 pages long.
57 Progress Monitoring Assessments
The resource includes lessons for the following phonemes:
And the best part? You can use these resources year after year!
Teachers have used these phonics lessons in various ways:
Classroom Teachers (Small Group) - Instruction for your lowest readers who are struggling to connect sounds to words they are reading.
Classroom Teachers (Whole Group) - Great for warm-ups or reviewing previously taught phonics sounds.
Homeschool - Science-Based Phonics Intervention for your struggling reader.
As a Title 1 Reading Teacher, I use these phonics lessons every day with students who aren't meeting their fluency goals. Once identified as needing phonics intervention, I use them in my small reading groups with students who continue to struggle with connecting phonics skills to fluently reading words.
Don't just take my word for it. Here's what other teachers are saying:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️"We know the SOR delivers. This bundle helped me in numerous ways. 1) MTSS groups, 2) with my own dyslexic child, 3) preparing to use with some second graders this fall! Extremely well-put together and worth every penny." - Jennifer B.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️"The best resource I have found to help teach my older students using the science of reading method. This is an all in one resource that is easy to use. This was the best money I have spent all year. My students were engaged and able to learn key concepts while engaged in high interest activities." - Erica W.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️"This purchase contained mega resources! I loved how it was set up...it was very easy to follow. If I had questions, there was a video to help. I've been wanting something like this to incorporate the different phonemic awareness skills that I've been learning about with LETRS. Please make some more!" - Victoria S.
Addressing unfinished learning in phonics and reading involves designing interventions that align with shifts and prioritize targeted instruction, coherence, rigor, and the broader picture of phonics and reading education. By avoiding common missteps, zeroing in on essential content, and delivering grade-level instruction, we as teachers can effectively support students in sharpening their phonics and reading skills, and filling in any gaps in their understanding.
