Reading Teachers Lounge

Latest Episodes:

All About Sight Words Jan 31, 2019

Show notes

Are you teaching sight words in your classroom? Parents, are you supporting your child's practice in learning sight words? It's important to have a large bag of tricks. Listen as Shannon and Mary discuss many different ideas for parents and teachers to reinforce multiple practice turns for students as they are gaining automaticity in reading and spelling sight words.
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All About Syllables Jan 24, 2019

Show notes

Shannon and Mary discuss the final pattern of the six syllable types: 'consonant+le'. Listen and join the conversation as they review CLOVER (closed, consonant + le, open, vowel teams, magic-e, and r-control syllable types). Find resources for how to teach syllables in your classroom and some clever tricks to reach your struggling readers. If you have students in your classroom who still haven't "cracked the code", come learn some strategies that will help you reach readers with phonics-based reading instruction.
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All About Vowel Teams Jan 17, 2019

Show notes

Vowel teams are combinations of vowels (two or more) that make one sound. When students begin learning about vowel teams they have to demonstrate an understanding of sound symbol relationship where multiple vowel teams represent a single sound. This developmental decoding milestone is quite complex and is a critical step that students must take on their journey to mastering syllable patterns. Shannon and Mary will walk you through some of the important steps in teaching readers vowel teams.
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All About R-Controlled Vowels Jan 10, 2019

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Shannon and Mary discuss how they discovered the importance of teaching phonics instruction and syllable division to help their student begin to crack the code of reading. Throughout the episode they will talk about strategies and activities that include multi-sensory phonics instruction for teaching r-controlled vowel patterns.
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All About Long Vowels Dec 20, 2018

Show notes

Mary and Shannon describe how they teach long vowels to their struggling readers. They share their favorite resources and routines for conducting phonics lessons. Are you challenged by your struggling readers? Do you need some casual professional development without sitting in the media center? Come join the conversation and start implementing new strategies tomorrow!
Resource Links:

FCRR Long & Short Vowel Picture sort
Long Vowels Videos Playlist
Free Reading.net Decodable passages
The Literacy Nest Syllable game
The Literacy Nest Long Vowel Clip Cards
FCRR Short and Long Vowel Word sort
Shannon's Long Vowels Lesson Plans and Activities
Long Vowel Foldable *created by Shannon*
CVC to CVCe word list *created by Shannon*
Short and Long Vowel Soccer reading center & lesson *created by Shannon*
Short and Long Vowel Soccer Boom Cards digital game *created by Shannon*

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All About Short Vowels Dec 13, 2018

Show notes

Shannon and Mary discuss background and strategies for teaching short vowels. You will learn facts and tidbits about literacy and why short vowels make their short, unique sounds. Hint! It has to do with the consonant next door. Learn about multi-sensory phonics based games and strategies for teaching struggling readers in your classroom. In the show notes you will find links to the resources we enjoy and use with our students.
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Learning Disabilities 101 Dec 06, 2018

Show notes

The process for identifying a specific learning disability such as dyslexia is complicated in the public school setting. In this episode Mary explains the RTI (Response to Intervention) process. She also breaks down how a student is eligible for special education in the public school. Key take away is ensuring that the student is receiving appropriate instruction to remediate their decoding struggles. Strong Tier 1 and 2 instruction is necessary to determine whether the student has a learning deficit or a learning disability.
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Decoding the MAP test Nov 29, 2018

Show notes

You've completed the benchmark assessments. You have done what has been asked of you by the administration. But really...what does that MAP score mean? Can you explain it to your students? Is it valid? Can you help your students set meaningful goals with the data? Are you just doing what is asked to get by, or are you really able to interpret and utilize the data for meaningful support? Shannon can help you! We have both been there! It's honest talk about data. We are here to help you work smarter and not harder.
Resource Links:

Parent Toolkit from NWEA (makers of MAP test)
NWEA Professional Learning for Teachers
RIT to Concept Document *need NWEA login*
Shannon's free MAP Quadrant Reflection document

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Getting to Know Your Readers Nov 15, 2018

Show notes

How do you get to know your readers? Shannon and Mary share some of their experience using basic assessment tools to check foundational skills of their students:

oral reading fluency
sight words
phonemic awareness
decoding skills
spelling

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Becoming a Reading Teacher Nov 08, 2018

Show notes

When was it that you first felt like you were a reading teacher who made the reading "magic" happen? When did you start to see growth from your students? What was the difference in your instruction or approach?
In this episode, Shannon and Mary describe their development as literacy teachers. They talk about the "moment when it clicked" and they figured out the magic of how to teach someone how to read.
Listen to this episode to learn more about the hosts and figure out their secrets to reading success.

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