TRT Podcast#54: The most important thing to remember when teaching sight words There's a lot of misinformation out there about teaching sight words. In this episode, we boil it down to the MOST important thing to get right. Listen to the episode here Full episode transcript Related blog posts, podcast episodes, and other resources Our sight word blog series begins here. Strongly recommended book (I read ... Read More
4 Common Misconceptions about Teaching Sight Words
TRT Podcast#53: 4 Common misconceptions about teaching sight words Should we use the Dolch grade-level lists to help us decide which sight words to teach? Should we teach our students to memorize sight words as wholes? And should beginning reading instruction START with sight words? Get answers to these questions and more as we look at common misconceptions surrounding the teaching of sight words. Listen to the ... Read More
Do phonics and sight words go together?
A small number of words make up a large percentage of the words that appear in print. These are called high frequency words. It's important that our students recognize a large number of high frequency words by sight so they can read fluently. We call these words - the words they recognize instantly without needing to sound out or guess - their sight word vocabulary. In essence, we want our students to turn ... Read More
Preschool Sight Words
How should I introduce sight words to preschoolers? What is a good sight word list for preschoolers? Where can I find preschool sight word worksheets? These are all questions I've heard from parents who are eager to get their children on the right path when it comes to learning to read. They are all good questions, but I think we need to back up and ask this question first: SHOULD we teach sight words ... Read More
Science of Reading Q & A: #2
TRT Podcast#52: Science of Reading Q & A: #2 What should you do with all your leveled books? Is there any place for them in a science of reading classroom? What should you do when students just can't master their short vowel sounds? When do you move on? And what about assessing struggling readers? Should you use Fountas & Pinnell's benchmark assessment to find their reading level? Get answers to these ... Read More
What’s the difference between Dolch and Fry sight words?
In our first post of this series we explained the difference between sight words and high frequency words. Sight words are words we know by sight, without needing to sound them out or guess. High frequency words are words that appear frequently in the English language. But where do we get these high frequency words FROM? Enter Dolch and Fry. What is the Dolch word list? The Dolch word list was ... Read More
Sight words vs. High frequency words: What’s the difference?
Sight words vs. high frequency words. What's the difference? This is the beginning of our blog series all about sight words. What are sight words? Traditionally, when teachers say “sight words,” they are referring to high frequency words that children should know by sight. We often define sight words as words that kids can’t sound out – words like the, for example. But this definition is not ... Read More
Science of Reading Q & A: #1
TRT Podcast#51: Science of Reading Q & A: #1 This past week Becky Spence and I shared a video workshop about the science of reading. Because of some technical difficulties, we weren't able to do our question and answer session live. Here are answers to questions submitted after the webinar. More to come next week! Listen to the episode here Full episode transcript Recommended Resources Nancy Young's ... Read More
How to structure the reading block in a science of reading classroom
TRT Podcast#50: SOR Bootcamp #6 - How to structure the reading block in a science of reading classroom? Now that we've laid a strong foundation, it's time to apply the science of reading to your daily instruction. This episode will show you how to use what you've learned to schedule a powerful reading block that will meet the needs of all your students. Share this 6-week podcast series with friends who want to learn ... Read More
What does research tell us about the Big 5?
TRT Podcast#49: SOR Bootcamp #5 - What does research say about the Big 5? We know that the science of reading isn't a curriculum, a fad, or a pendulum swing. It's a body of research. So what does this research tell us about the Big 5? What does the science of reading have to say about phonological/phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary? In this episode we'll examine the research and make ... Read More