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Are we supposed to teach reading strategies or not? I keep coming across contradictory information. Some writers say the research supports strategy teaching and some say that we should teach background information instead. I respect your opinion. What do you think?

RELATED: Can we really teach prosody and why would we want to? Shanahan response:
Many studies - hundreds actually - have shown that teaching comprehension strategies can improve reading comprehension (Filderman, Austin, Boucher, O'Donnell, & Swanson, 2022; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000). That's a pretty strong argument for teaching strategies.

That's why I've taught them to students myself.

That's why I sometimes use them when I'm reading.

The first question to ask ourselves, it seems to me, is why do strategies help? How do they make someone a better reader?

I remember Dick Venezky telling me that one of the big benefits of phonics instruction was that it got kids to look at the words, to look at all the letters in the words. At the time, I thought that was glib. But over time, I've come to appreciate the wisdom in that explanation.

My answer for why and how strategies work is as glib as that.

Strategies do two things for readers.

First, they require readers to think about a text more than they would if they just read it.

If readers think more about the ideas in a text, they are more likely to remember them later. Strategies slow you down. It takes more time to read a text and implement a strategy than to only read the text.

Too many readers are satisfied with comprehending a text. They may understand it as they read, but they don't retain the information. We use the term "reading comprehension" too generally. When we use it, we usually intend more than just understanding.

No, it often includes the idea that readers should remember what they read so that they can successfully answer questions, participate in discussions, or use the information in some other way.

Strategies arm readers with purposeful actions they can take before, during, and after reading. Basically, they get readers to think about the ideas more than once. They facilitate learning from text. (That's why Ron Carver used to argue that the term comprehension strategies was a misnomer; he thought a more apt label was study skills, skills one would use to study a text or learn from it.)

The idea of strategies is to provide readers with the tools that will allow them to accomplish purposeful learning - and the tools work by slowing us down and getting us to think more than once about the ideas in the text. A rather blunt tool admittedly, but, according to the empirical studies, an effective one.

As such, strategies play a very different role in the reading process than knowledge.

It should not be a choice between the two.

Second, strategies may also play a useful role in guiding student attention to key information in a text. (I tend to think of most strategies as "paying attention strategies.")

When I'm reading something that is very hard for me, I write down the most important idea from each paragraph or section. That ensures that I pay attention to all the key ideas, without the details distracting me.

Other strategies encourage readers to depend on the author's organizational scheme. Doing so focuses attention on certain key information that they may neglect without that strategy.

Further distinguishing knowledge and strategies in reading are those strategies that emphasize making connections between the text and the knowledge that we bring to the text.

Prediction, for instance, is a strategy that leads readers to anticipate what the author will reveal. Predictions require that readers combine information from the text with the knowledge they bring to the text. Predicting is a tool readers can apply in certain reading situations, but it can only work if there is relevant knowledge available.

Inferencing is another such strategy. Readers can be sensitized to the concept that texts won't provide explicitly all the needed information so readers must draw inferences to fill in the blanks and make connections. But the inferencing strategy only works to the extent that there is background knowledge available from which to generate those inferences.

A third strategy that depends on knowledge and encourages readers to connect knowledge to text is comprehension monitoring. With this one, students are taught to pay attention to whether they are understanding a text or if it is making sense. Determining whether something makes sense means that you can compare it with some standard and that standard for this is the knowledge that you bring to the text.

In all these examples, the strategy gives the reader some insights about text (e.g., it has a structure, the text should make sense, text sometimes implies rather than states information) and some action steps that if taken will improve understanding and memory for what is read.

But none of these strategies pays off unless the reader possesses sufficient topical knowledge to make them work.

As such strategies are useful and knowledge is essential.

That sounds like reading lessons would be better off emphasizing the learning of content, rather than developing insights about text and reading and developing actions students can use in a purposeful way to think more about the text.

But that is not necessarily the case. Our emphasis on knowledge should not be the central goal of reading instruction. It should be the central goal of schooling. Yes, kids should read texts worth knowing in their reading lessons and they should be held accountable for the content learning that can be gained from such texts. But learning also needs to come from social studies, science, and the arts, as well as from all the other sources of information that children confront in the media, in their play activities and social interactions, and so on.

Reading strategies are something students are likely to learn only in a reading lesson. As such, they deserve special attention in those lessons.

I don't accept the premise of what you are hearing - that reading lessons should either teach strategies or knowledge. They need to accomplish the former and contribute to the latter.

Although I didn't cite many specific studies in this blog entry, it heavily benefited from the brilliant contributions of the late Ernst Z. Rothkopf, whose pioneering work on "mathemagenic activities" presaged all the strategy research in reading.

READ MORE: Shanahan On Literacy Blog
References
Filderman, M. J., Austin, C. R., Boucher, A. N., O'Donnell, K., & Swanson, E. A. (2022). A meta-analysis of the effects of reading comprehension interventions on the reading comprehension outcomes of struggling readers in third through 12 th grades. Exceptional Children, 88( 2), 163-184. doi.org/10.1177/00144029211050860

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, DHHS. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read: Reports of the Subgroups (00-4754). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Rothkopf, E. Z. (1970). The concept of mathemagenic activities. Review of Educational Research, 40(3), 325-336.

Rothkopf, E. Z. (2008). Reflections on the field: Aspirations of learning science and the practical logic of instructional enterprises. Educational Psychology Review, 20(3), 351-368. doi.org/10.1007/s10648-008-9076-5

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Knowledge or Comprehension Strategies | Shanahan on Literacy

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Learn how to strike the perfect balance between teaching knowledge and comprehension strategies, guided by Shanahan’s expertise in literacy. Read here!

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National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ)

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We have a literacy crisis in this country. Last year's NAEP scores found that more than one third of fourth grade students can't read at a basic level, and that rate climbs even higher for students of color, those with learning differences, and those who grow up in low-income households. This dismal data has nothing to do with the students and families, and everything to do with inequities in access to effective literacy instruction. But there is good news: Decades of research has resulted in a rich, robust understanding of how children learn to read. So what does this research say? Inspired by a conversation at a recent Barksdale Reading Institute Lunch & Literacy forum, researcher Dr. Reid Lyon developed a clear, concise summary of the research on how children learn to read. Here we share Dr. Lyon's "Ten Maxims," originally published by - Dr. Heather Peske Reading Universe. These maxims underlie NCTQ's own work to advocate for the science of reading in teacher preparation. By increasing understanding and adoption of scientifically based reading instruction, together we can address the literacy crisis head-on, reversing historical patterns of inequity and changing the lives of millions of our children.

Ten maxims: What we've learned so far about how children learn to read

By Dr. Reid Lyon

Over the last 50 years, there's been a vast outpouring of research about reading development, drawing on insights from neuroscientists, psychologists, linguists, speech pathologists, educators and other experts. I'm sometimes asked to summarize, in plain language, what we've learned so far. These ten maxims represent my best attempt at doing that.

This may seem like a fool's errand, because no set of maxims can fully convey the scope or the nuance of thousands of studies. I hope nevertheless that these maxims might be useful in crystallizing some of the most essential findings. In collaboration with some outstanding researchers and practitioners, I've compiled here a selective list of studies that underlie each of the ten maxims. The research behind the maxims addresses a wide range of individual differences in reading development, reading difficulties and reading instruction. Taken as a whole, the studies encompass children identified as having dyslexia and other learning disabilities as well as children who struggle with reading as a result of inadequate instruction. Many of the studies also include proficient readers.

Because these maxims are very broad, there is of course more to say about specific subpopulations of students with distinct strengths and needs. I encourage advocates for these students to formulate additional maxims that are not adequately covered by these first ten. Any additions should be in clear, consumer-friendly language and supported by cited studies that report relevant empirical findings.

The overarching message is that learning to read is a complex process involving multiple abilities, skills, and knowledge. Each is essential but none is sufficient on its own.

With that as prologue, here are my ten maxims:

1. Almost all children learn to speak naturally; reading and writing must be taught.

2. Literacy begins at birth. It is rooted in early social interactions and experiences that include regular exposure to oral language and print. Strong roots tend to produce stronger readers.

3. All good readers are good decoders. Decoding should be taught until children can accurately and independently read new words. Decoding depends on phonemic awareness: a child's ability to identify individual speech sounds. Decoding is the on-ramp for word recognition.

4. Fluent readers can instantly and accurately recognize most words in a text. They can read with expression and at an appropriate rate for their age. Reading fluency requires comprehension AND it supports comprehension.

5. Comprehension-the goal of reading-draws on multiple skills and strengths, including a solid foundation of vocabulary and background knowledge.

6. One size does not fit all: use student data to differentiate your instruction.

7. Direct, systematic instruction helps students develop the skills they need to become strong readers. Indirect, three-cueing instruction is unpredictable in its impact on word reading and leaves too much to chance.

8. These maxims apply to English Learners/Emergent Bilinguals, who often need extra support to bolster their oral language as they learn to read and write in a new language.

9. We should support students who speak languages or dialects other than General American English at home, by honoring their home language and by giving them expanded opportunities to engage with General American English text.

10. To become good readers and writers, students need to integrate many skills that are built over time.

This piece originated with the Barksdale Reading Institute's Lunch & Literacy forum and originally appeared on the Reading Universe website. Reading Universe is a joint project of the Barksdale Reading Institute, WETA/Reading Rockets, and First Book that provides free resources for educators and families.

About the guest author:

Dr. Reid Lyon, a neuroscientist and specialist in learning disorders, joined the faculty of Communication Science and Disorders at Northwestern University in 1980 where he also directed the neuropsychology laboratory. In 1983 Dr. Lyon was recruited by the Stern Center for Language and Learning in Burlington, Vermont where he served as the director of research. He also served as a clinical associate professor of neurology at the University of Vermont Medical School. From 1992 to 2005, Dr. Lyon served as a research neuropsychologist and the chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch of the NICHD at the National Institutes of Health; in this role he developed and oversaw research programs in cognitive neuroscience, learning and reading development and disorders, behavioral pediatrics, cognitive and affective development, School Readiness, and the Spanish to English Reading Research program. He designed, developed and directed the 44-site NICHD Reading Research Network. After leaving the NIH, Dr. Lyon held distinguished scientist and distinguished professorships at the University of Texas, Dallas (neuroscience) and Southern Methodist University (educational leadership).

Dr. Lyon is the author and co-author of over 130 peer reviewed journal articles, books, and book chapters addressing developmental neuroscience, learning and reading disorders/dyslexia, and the translation of science into practice and policy. He also co-authored the definition of dyslexia used at the NIH and worldwide. Dr. Lyon received the NIH Director's Award twice. Once for his contributions to the neuroscience of learning and learning disorders. He also received the Vietnam Veterans of America Excellence in The Sciences Award for contributions to educating veterans about the neuroscience of Combat PTSD in 2013. Dr. Lyon, a former paratrooper and combat veteran, received the Bronze Star, the Combat Infantryman Badge among other combat awards during his 15th month tour in Vietnam including the 1968 Tet Offensive.

Additional contributors to this piece include: Jane Ashby, Louise Dechovitz, Linda Diamond, Jan Hasbrouck, Kari Kurto, and Julie Washington. With appreciation to Kelly Butler, Claude Goldenberg, and Noel Gunther.

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Ten maxims: What we've learned so far about how children learn to read by Dr. Reid Lyon

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Together we can address the literacy crisis head-on, reversing historical patterns of inequity and changing the lives of millions of our children.

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40 pg Presentation--user friendly!

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Benefits of Decodable Books (bullet points)

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Benefits of Decodable Books (bullet points)

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Simple Words Books | Best Decodable Books for Striving Readers

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Benefits of Decodable Books - Simple Words Books | Best Decodable Books for Striving Readers

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Easy to read big-kids books for striving readers. Traditional chapter books can frustrate struggling readers who work hard to learn phonics skills their peers master easily.

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Word Recognition (GENERAL): Formative Boxes

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Phonics Concepts Progression

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Small Group Decision Making - Word Recognition

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natashya@erinkentconsulting.com

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- TRACY WHITE WEEDEN, Ed.D., President and CEO, Neuhaus Education Center

" An accessible and appealing book that is chock-full of useful and doable strategies for building the foundation necessary for reading proficiency. Lindsay Kemeny has created a window into the what and how of effective instruction, while articulating the why that should drive the 'moves' of all reading teachers. "

" This book is pure gold! In what feels like a conversation with your most knowledgeable teacher friend, Lindsay Kemeny expertly weaves together reading research and practical suggestions for the classroom. 7 Mighty Moves should be required reading for teaching early literacy. "

- KATE WINN, teacher, structured literacy presenter, and host of IDA Ontario's Reading Roadmap Podcast

- PAM KASTNER, Ed.D., State Lead for Literacy, Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN)

- STEPHANIE A. STOLLAR, Ph.D., founder of the Reading Science Academy

- ERNESTO ORTIZ, JR., Ed.D., senior literacy engagement specialist, AIM Institute for Learning & Research

- NANCY CHAPEL EBERHARDT, educational consultant and co-author of Sortegories and Syntax: Knowledge to Practice

- MARGARET GOLDBERG, teacher and co-founder of the Right to Read Project

"A university professor is a teacher of teachers. Lindsay Kemeny is a teacher's teacher. In 7 Mighty Moves , she invites us into her classroom and generously shares the what , how , and why in this accessible book that bridges the research-to-practice gap. School administrators will also find valuable information as they move in a new direction."

- FAITH BORKOWSKY, literacy consultant and author of Failing Students or Failing Schools? and the "If Only I Would Have Known..." series

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7 Mighty Moves: Research-Backed, Classroom-Tested Strategies to Ensure K-to-3 Reading Success (The Science of Reading in Practice)

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In this no-nonsense guide, primary reading expert and classroom teacher Lindsay Kemeny shares seven ways K-3 teachers can modify what they are currently doing to transform their reading instruction. Each chapter focuses on a critical area of foundational reading-from the most efficient ways to te...

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"Finally, a book that has the power to stop the literacy pendulum swings! In Shifting the Balance, Burkins and Yates skillfully explore 'balanced literacy' and 'the science of reading' to find the sweet spots where they overlap, connect, and actually complement one another. The result is a resource that raises our level of instruction while helping children discover and reap the joyful rewards of reading."

"What are the research-based, critical elements for teaching reading? In Shifting the Balance, Jan and Kari give you the information, classroom examples, and tools to help you make the best decisions around six key shifts for instruction. After reviewing the misunderstandings, the science, and the needs of your students, you will be able to audit your current practices (individually, in a PLC, or system-wide) to provide responsive and effective literacy learning for all your students."

"In Shifting the Balance, Jan and Kari invite us to reflect and reexamine our beliefs about teaching reading. They gently nudge us to rethink and possibly adjust our early literacy practices. Jan and Kari have taken on this controversial topic by embracing vulnerability and modeling what it means to be truly reflective practitioners. This book is a must read for new and veteran teachers!"

"In Shifting the Balance, Kari and Jan have masterfully dispelled many of the myths and misunderstandings associated with reading instruction. Additionally, they offer classroom teachers and coaches six simple, practical shifts that have the power to transform the way we teach children how to read. Indeed, balanced literacy and science do exist in harmony, and we practitioners can offer our children both concurrently. Thank you, Kari and Jan, for this important work that is sure to change lives!"

"In Shifting the Balance, Jan Burkins and Kari Yates provide a safe space for teachers to courageously examine some long-held balanced literacy practices and turn a critical eye to where those practices have gotten out of balance. If you're willing to be vulnerable and move towards resolving the gap between research and practice, this book provides actionable steps you can take to shift your thinking and bring instruction into alignment with the scientific evidence."

"Shifting the Balance is a welcoming opportunity to reexamine our familiar teaching practices. Without judgment, Burkins and Yates invigorate these practices by inviting educators to make scientific shifts in the systems that have been in place for years. This book will revolutionize reading instruction and in turn, the lives of countless students."

"This book speaks to teachers. It is overwhelmingly clear that Jan Burkins and Kari Yates have been and are immersed in the world of today's classrooms. Shifting the Balance will help many rethink instruction in ways that will support all students. In the current version of the Reading Wars, it is difficult for any of us to say we were wrong about some of our beliefs or practices. And thus, few do. However, Jan Burkins and Kari Yates have done just that. This is as commendable as it is unusual."

"This book found me at just the right time! Shifting the Balance gives voice to the questions I've had in my mind about Balanced Literacy and the Science of Reading and provides clear insights on how to connect the best parts of both to benefit early readers. Throughout the book, Jan and Kari confirm practices worth holding onto while providing actionable next steps I can't wait to implement with students to strengthen my reading instruction."

Dr. Jan Burkins was an elementary classroom teacher for seven years and a literacy coach for seven years. She has worked as a part-time assistant professor, a district literacy leader, and is currently a fulltime writer and consultant.

Kari Yates is an author, speaker, consultant and staff developer with a passion for helping busy literacy educators thrive. Her experiences include classroom teacher, special education, Reading Recovery teacher, elementary principal and district literacy coordinator.

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Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom

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Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom

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Literacy Consultants & Consulting Services | Erin Kent Consulting

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About the Community | Erin Kent Consulting (EKC)

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A few special gifts for signing up now: a strategy call with Erin Kent or an EKC Senior Strategist to get started using the EKC Community to support your current literacy initiatives; and 5 free spots in our live, virtual winter courses ($1495 value!)

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Word Study Documenting. Adapt to fit YOUR Curriculum progression

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The newest addition to Scholastic's "Science of Reading" collection is an early literacy handbook written by a teacher for teachers. This book is about decoding and phonics. Lindsey uses her impeccable body of research to create a powerful translational work interpreting reading science. She employs a scaffolded approach to teaching foundational skills, starting with decoding and oral language, moving through phonemic awareness and sound-spelling knowledge, and ending with fluency. Of particular value is the focus on bridging to practice: activities and lessons presented here can be used immediately in the classroom. The book is predicated on the "Essential Instructional Swap" of substituting ineffective activities for more effective, evidence-based routines. For example, "Fewer Rhymes, More Phonemes" and "Less Pointing to Text in Predictable Books, More Engaging in Shared Reading." The depth of research backing this text cannot be overstated. Lindsey refers to the findings of meta-analyses throughout, and the book sports a beefy and current reference section. VERDICT This title can be used as a handbook for professional educators; its clear organization and focused language will be useful for early literacy teachers.-Jennifer Townesα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

" Reading Above the Fray is a wonderful resource, a book I read from cover to cover. The scholarship is impeccable, citing the central and most impactful studies surrounding foundational skills and their importance to reading acquisition. Authored by a passionate educator, the book is rich in stories, lessons, activities, and ideas. It is a joy to read and will become a well-worn guide for teachers and students of reading!"Book Smart: How to , Julia masterfully connects the deep research base on how kids learn to read to what teachers can do tomorrow in their classrooms. What I love even more about the book is her focus on the joy of helping students develop the tools they need to achieve reading success."

- ANNE E. CUNNINGHAM, Professor, Learning Sciences and Human Development, University of California, Berkeley; author of Develop and Support Successful, Motivated Readers Letter Lessons and First Words: Phonics Foundations That Work

"This book speaks to something near and dear to my heart-the power of early literacy to lead to lifelong learning and immeasurable opportunities. With clarity and precision, Dr. Lindsey cuts through the distracting noise around reading instruction. Her book should be required reading in preservice and inservice programs. With it, we can chart a course forward to literacy for all."

- SHARIF EL-MEKKI, Chief Executive Officer, Center for Black Educator Development

"One of the best books I've read on decoding and phonics. With passion for teaching, Dr. Lindsey interprets reading science in ways that are directly transferable to the classroom. Her book is chock full of techniques, activities, and strategies-a veritable 'go-to' resource. This is exactly the kind of translational work the field needs!"

- SUSANNE NOBLES, Chief Academic Officer, ReadWorks

"Accessible, timely, and easy to use, this is a book that needed to be written for teachers, literacy coaches, and school administrators looking to develop efficient and effective literacy instruction. Dr. Lindsey simplifies the complexities of foundational skills instruction, synthesizes research by bridging it to practice, and provides routines that can be implemented the very next day. I predict it will become a primary resource that educators return to time and again."

- REBECCA MILES, Early Literacy Consultant and Coach Coordinator, Berrien Regional Educational Service Agency

"If you think a professional book about decoding and foundational skills can't be engaging, think again! Dr. Lindsey artfully combines wit, wisdom, and classroom realism with evidence-based routines that we can implement immediately. Most important, she centers each chapter on children, calling us to value and build upon the strengths, perspectives, and cultural assets they bring. This book is a win for educators and, by extension, the children and families they serve!"

- ANNIE PETROZZELLI SPEAR, Literacy Specialist, Consultant, and Author

"Elementary teachers have been waiting for this one! Dr. Lindsey explains not only the 'why' behind the essential elements of decoding, but also provides explicit guidance and routines to help any teacher swap out ineffective practices for more effective and efficient research-based ones. She makes it easy to align instruction to reading science
and teach 'above the fray.'"

- KATHARINE NOONAN, English Language Arts Instructional Coach, District of Columbia Public Schools
- HEIDI ANNE MESMER, Professor of Literacy Education, Virginia Tech; author of Reading Above the Fray

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Reading Above the Fray: Reliable, Research-Based Routines for Developing Decoding Skills (The Science of Reading in Practice)

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Julia Lindsey's evidence-backed routines help young readers decode words efficiently so they can spend more energy on comprehending--and enjoying--what they read! You'll find:1. need-to-know essentials of how kids learn to read.2. principles of high-quality foundational skills instruction.3. teac...

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Literacy Consultants & Consulting Services | Erin Kent Consulting

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Literacy Consultants & Consulting Services | Erin Kent Consulting

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EKC provides literacy consultants, consulting services, and literacy professional learning for schools.

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Necessary Components of Phonemic Awareness

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Necessary Components of Phonemic Awareness

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Passages that match the phonics feature you are using...

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For each of these seven must haves, Wiley shares lessons, routines, word lists, tips for ELL and advanced learners, and advice on pitfalls to avoid regarding pacing, decodable texts, transition time, and more.

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A Fresh Look at Phonics, Grades K-2: Common Causes of Failure and 7 Ingredients for Success (Corwin Literacy)

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Amazon.com: A Fresh Look at Phonics, Grades K-2: Common Causes of Failure and 7 Ingredients for Success (Corwin Literacy): 9781506326887: Blevins, Wiley: Books

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Connect with other international educators who are passionate about all things literacy!

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Kindergarten and First Grade Student Center Activities Phonological Awareness | Phonics | Fluency | Vocabulary | Comprehension

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Lots of Resources available on this website! You may have to register...

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The Six Shifts Where Science of Reading Meets Balanced Literacy. We provide resources, professional development, and literacy audits for busy literacy educators like you.

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This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Today we're going to talk about blending lines - a powerful, easy-to-use tool that will help your students become masters at decoding!

It's the fourth post in our 10-part series about teaching phonics.

Blending is the stringing of letter sounds to read a word.
There are two main types of blending:

Successive blending

Final blending

*Weird but important note: Some phonics experts use the terms "successive blending" and "final blending" differently. Beck and Beck ( Making Sense of Phonics) use the terms as I will use them in this article. Wiley Blevins, in his book ( A Fresh Look at Phonics) switches the terms around.

Successive and Final Blending
Successive blending
Successive blending is an excellent way to introduce blending to your students, and children who struggle will benefit from extended use of this approach.

The power of successive blending is that it helps students keep the sounds in their heads; short-term memory issues are a real problem for students who sound out p-a-t and come up with "tan."

While you should phase out successive blending after a few weeks, Beck and Beck recommend temporarily bringing it back when students start reading words with beginning blends (such as flat and swim).
Final blending
Final blending (which I like to call "sound by sound blending") is more efficient and the method you should use when your students understand the concept of blending.

However, if you are working with an individual student who is struggling, switch back to successive blending.
Watch this quick video to understand both types of blending.
(For a longer video of successive blending, see this post.)

Best practices for teaching blending

In his book, A Fresh Look at Phonic s, Wiley Blevins share these tips for teaching blending:

Model and practice blending often (every day for early readers).

When starting blending with new readers, use words that start with continuous sounds (such as mmmm and sssss).

Practice blending before reading a story (at least 20 words in 1st grade and up).

Select blending lines that include minimal contrasts so students have to fully analyze the words.

Create lines that allow you to informally assess your students.

Make sure your lines contain differentiated practice to meet everyone's needs.

Include sentences in your lines.

What are blending lines?

Blending lines are lines of words that students sound out using their phonics knowledge. Blending lines allow students to practice the new focus skill and review previously learned skills.

Students should read the these lines after the lesson but before reading their decodable book.

You can use the lines with a whole class or in a small group phonics lesson.

Sample blending lines
Wiley Blevins' tips for using blending lines

Model only one or two words at the beginning of the word set. You want your students to do the work.

Have students read the words chorally the first time through (observe to see which students drop out as the words become more challenging).

Revisit the lines by pointing to words in random order and calling on students to read them. Remember to call on struggling readers for the easier lines and advanced readers for the challenging ones. Keep the whole class engaged by having them give a thumbs-up to indicate when a word is read correctly.

Use the lines for multiple days of instruction as a quick review or warm-up.

Make copies of the week's lines for students to take home and practice.

Make sure that the time spent on the lines is no more than 5 minutes at a time.

More sample blending lines
So what do you think?
Are you ready to give blending lines a try?

It can be tricky to write your own blending lines, but I've made it easy for you!

As you can see in the above image, I've created a planning sheet for you that reminds you what to focus on for each line.

After you type in the words on the planning sheet, they auto-populate into the student page.

The page prints without the blue boxes, making it the perfect practice sheet for your students.

Just sign up below to get the freebie!

Check our the rest of our phonics series!

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Are you wondering how to use blending lines in your phonics lessons? We're here to help - with editable blending lines!

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Word Chaining List from Burkins and Yates

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Word Chaining List from Burkins and Yates

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Morpheme Magic – Lessons to Build Morphological Awareness

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Teachers and students alike, will become captivated by words as they explore together the world of language and morphology, and build awareness of morphemes, the meaningful parts in words.

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Many children with literacy difficulties find it hard to blend phonemes together. Word Chains games allow a child to focus on sounds without the distraction of graphemes, as each sound is represented by a counter. A single phoneme is changed and the child 're-blends' to make a new word. The Word Chain lists progress from simple CVC words, like 'dog' and 'cat', to more complex words with initial and final blends, like 'stand' and 'crisp'. This allows targeted practice of a very specific skill in just a few minutes.

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Blending Phonemes - Word Chains - Dyslexic Logic

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Resources and word-chains (also called word ladders or word chains) to support teaching blending skills for children with poor phonological awareness, from basic CVC blends to CCVCC words with long and short medial vowels.

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Word Ladder - Blank Word Ladder - 3-Letter Blends Word Ladder - Digraphs

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Developing and sharing resources is at the heart of what UFLI does. Teachers, parents, school leaders, teacher educators ... there is something here for everyone. Take a spin through our resource hubs, explore our digital word work apps, and catch up on UFLI webinars.

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Developing and sharing resources is at the heart of what UFLI does. Teachers, parents, school leaders, teacher educators ... there is something here for everyone. Take a spin through our resource hubs, explore our digital word work apps, and catch up on UFLI webinars.

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UFLI Passages
The Measured Mom-Fiction  Nonfiction
Core Knowledge Student Readers
Beyond Decodables
Speld Phonic Books
Open Source Phonics (Passages)
Flyleaf Publishing

Other decodable books to purchase

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Simple Words Books | Best Decodable Books for Striving Readers

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Home - Simple Words Books | Best Decodable Books for Dyslexic Readers

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Simple Words Books offers Decodable Chapter Books and Readers for DyslexicReaders. Big-kid books that reduce traditional chapter book frustrations.

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PA & Phonics Application Word Study Planner

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EXAMPLE- Early Word Recognition Lesson Plan

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Reading Research statement - Jan Hasbrouck

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Great Image with Why, What, How of Reading

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Great Image with Why, What, How of Reading

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Spelling-Out Orthography in SWI

I have been refining my practice of "spelling-out orthography" since I encountered Real Spelling in 2001. I addressed this process in the morphological intervention study ( Bowers & Kirby, 2010) that introduced the term "structured word inquiry."

That phrase "spelling-out orthography" is an umbrella term for three practices I use regularly:

1. *Writing-out loud: Done orally in conjunction with writing

2. *Spelling-out loud: Done orally without writing

3. *Tapping-out word structure: Done orally without writing, with tapping of graphemes in the base.

Below you can see a screen shot of a document with a diagram I created as a worked example of the process of spelling-out orthography. The original document has been on my website and a regular feature of my workshops since 2011. I have just revised that document (May 25, 2018) and am posting it at THIS LINK. See a screen shot of one of the diagrams in that document below.

New video on "Spelling-Out Orthography"

Click HERE for a new video in which Shawna Pope-Jefferson interviews me on "Spelling-Out Orthography."

This is an in-depth hour-long talk that includes discussing videos of young students using this process. You can see those two videos with students linked below

To jump directly to that part of the interview where Shawna and I watch, pause and discuss those videos, click here.

When I first began using and adapting practices for spelling-out-loud that I saw in Real Spelling I was thinking about it in terms of a useful way to help students focus on the orthographic structures of words in general and especially in the context of working with word sums. Over time I realized that it was an especially important aspect of building teacher's orthographic learning. When teachers take on the challenge of reflecting these orthographic structures in how the spell-them-out, they are can't help but find grapheme-phoneme correspondences they are not sure about. And that is a good thing! Spelling-out orthography makes sure we recognize what we don't yet understand, and tells us what we need to learn.

I use the document above in all my courses on this topic. It lays out the language I use for spelling-out word sums with suffixing changes (replacing final, non-syllabic <e>s, doubling final, single consonants and <y>/<I> changes. Practicing carefully with this guide helps teachers get to the point that they don't need it in order to spell out the structure of words even without the aid of word sums.

Click HERE for a short YouTube video of two Grade 4 students using this practice she learned from her tutor Jill Gaughan.

In the first video, we see a student start spelling out the word "own." At first he spells the letters out one-at-a-time. But that process catches his attention and he works hard to show that actually this word starts with an <ow> digraph. Due to Jill's use of this practice the student instantly recognizes that he has to reflect that new thought by spelling the <ow> together as a group. When Jill asks the teacher about it, he says "Because /oʊ/." This is his way of explaining that the <ow> digraph is representing the 'long o' phoneme. And then they note that /n/ phoneme is represented by the <n> grapheme.

In the second part of the video we see another student correct her recognition of the word that she initially miscues as the word "taping." We also see that the student can explain her change in thinking because of the suffixing change that she works out without the scaffolding of the written word sum to guide her. She then does the same thing more automatically and with obvious joy with the word "planner." When teachers take on this practice regularly and help their students do this, they both get constant practice binding graphemes and morphemes into their mental lexicon.

Click HERE for the video (screenshot below) of a tutoring session I did with my student Charlie (Grade 3). In this session we see Charlie use "writing-out-loud" to help him work out the spelling of the word "surface." See how he self-corrects when he recognizes the spelling-meaning connection between this word and its base <face>. he is also able to clearly articulate the process of his thinking to leverage his morphological knowledge to compensate for his weak phonological processing. Seee a detailed account about this video in the description under the YouTube video.

I am attaching a new 5-page document that attempts to give some more detail on the process, some of my reasoning behind the practice and ways I see it benefit the learning of teachers and students. You can download that document HERE. See a screen shot of the first page below.

Click screen shots below for more videos incorporating spelling-out orthography in multiple contexts.

Video above, left: Grade 1 student spells out a word sum for "wonderfully." Notice the cue she gives us with her pause on the left side of the word sum that she's wondering if there is an <-er> suffix in <wonder>. On the right side of the word sum we see she does not pause before the <er> suggesting that she has decided <wonder> is a base without a suffix. My interpretation is that the act of spelling-out provoked here to notice a possible <-er> suffix, and then she recognized that if that was a suffix in this word, then <wond> would have to be a base. Because she couldn't make sense of that, she (correctly) concluded the whole word "wonder" is a base. Click HERE.

Video above, right: See me introduce word sums and the matrix to a kindergarten class. In the process, and the <s> grapheme representing both /s/ and /z/, and that we know that we use that <s> for either pronunciation (not the <z> for /z/) if that <s> is a suffix. As one of the students says, "<s> means more!" Click HERE.

Video above, left: I use writing-out-loud with word sums and a matrix on the <do> and <go> family in a lower school class. Click HERE.

Video above, right: Grade 1 teacher Skot Caldwell uses writing-out-loud of graphemes in the base, in word sums to target the binding of grapheme-phoneme correspondences. Wait until the end when we see two students shared their discovery of the <ey> digraph for the 'long e' phoneme in the word "monkey' and were excited to add that to the class chart. Click HERE.

Video above, left: This video is from a session with teachers in which I model using spelling-out-orthography as not only a teaching tool, but also as an assessment tool. Click HERE.

Video above, right: In this video I use the word "pleasure" to model the process of writing-out-loud a word sum. Click HERE.

Video above, left: This is a video of my son Skyler in the first week or two of reading independently. See how leverage spelling-out orthography in the process of reading instruction. Click HERE.

Video above, right: In this video I model the process of writing-out-loud a word sum with the word "pleasure.' Click HERE.

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Spelling-Out Orthography in SWI I have been refining my practice of "spelling-out orthography" since I encountered Real Spelling in 2001. I addressed this process in the morphological intervention study ( Bowers & Kirby, 2010) that introduced the term "structured word inquiry."

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The Six Shifts

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Multi-Year Morphology Plan Example - The Six Shifts.pdf

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UFLI Foundations: How to Implement Day 1 Lessons

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UFLI Foundations: How to Implement Day 2 Lessons