Reading

Printable Reading Log for Elementary Grades

A reading log is a great tool that assists teachers, parents and children. As early as first grade, both of my children were required to complete a reading log as part of their homework. As a result, we’ve created free, printable reading logs ideal for a child in elementary school. Daily Reading Log – Weekly…

What is Realistic Fiction?

Realistic fiction is a story written about events that did not actually happen but could have happened; the people, events and places may be real. It is a classification of literature containing stories that could actually happen, in a time and setting that is plausible and contains realistic characters. Characteristics of Realistic Fiction Realistic fiction…

Phoneme

It is essential that a child make a connection between letters and sounds; letters represent speech sounds and when combined forms words. Changing the letter results in a different sound and word. Phoneme Definition A phoneme is the smallest identifiable units of sound. When speaking, we combine phonemes to form a words. For example the…

Kindergarten Word Families

A word family consists of a group of words that share an ending part of a word (rime), e.g. rug, bug & hug. In addition to recognizing rhymes, knowledge of short vowel sounds is crucial when learning to read and spell. Interestingly, short vowel sounds can be the hardest for beginner readers to match to…

Singing Enhances Phonemic Awareness

Singing songs help children improve their ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds that make up a word (commonly referred to as phonemic awareness). Similar to reading nursery rhymes, singing songs assist a child in hearing rhymes. Singing songs can also help a child grasp print concepts. When appropriate, use your finger to point…

Sequence of Phonics Instruction – Part IV

Sequence of Phonics Instruction – Part IV Phonics relies on letter-sound relationships to teach children to identify words. When teaching phonics begin with the easy relationships and then move along to the more complex letter-sound relationships. For more information about phonics, please visit our series of phonics posts noted below: Posts Concepts Part I Consonants,…