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Have a sound scavenger hunt. Create a list with pictures of objects that have all the same beginning sounds. Have the children find the objects and recite the sound they are looking for. Have them find a mystery object with the same sound to share. This is an inclusive activity for all to join. Create teams where students can help each other. Create a list of pictures to help students with various reading skills. This activity gives movement to students and a hands-on activity focused on different types of learners.

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Easy activities to try at home to help develop phonemic awareness.

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8 Easy Phonemic Awareness Activities - Begin Learning

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Phonemic awareness activities help kids develop an essential core reading skill. Get 8 easy ones from Begin's early learning experts!

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This site offers extra education for families for children with Dyslexia.

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Phonemic Awareness Activities - Dyslexia Help

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Once you have identified the area(s) that your client needs to strengthen, the following attachment is a compilation of various activities such as rhyming, elision, and blending that will help make therapy productive and fun!

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Create a ball with the Alphabet marked on it. While sitting in circle time have the students gently toss the ball to each other. When the child catches the ball, they must say the sound of the first letter they see. Classmates can join by guessing the letter they are making the sound for. This activity is a team effort so other classmates may join in to help a student struggling. This activity gives movement for students who made need movement as they learn.

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This site offers extra information about phonics and easy activities to do at home.

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Once children have a solid grounding in the sounds of speech (phonemic awareness) they are ready to learn how these speech sounds are connected with the letters of the alphabet. And they begin to learn that there are predicable patterns in sound-letter relationships. They will take their first steps into "decoding" - sounding out simple words.

In kindergarten, your child will start with basic CVC words (consonant-vowel-consonant words) such as c-a-p, say each sound individually, and then begin blending the sounds into a word. Decoding takes a lot of practice! You can help your child build phonics skills with some of the activities described here - and by offering lots of encouragement as your child gains confidence with this big step into becoming a reader.

Here are some basic tips on how to help your child build phonics skills:

Help your child learn the names of the letters and the sounds the letters make. Turn it into a game! "I'm thinking of a letter and it makes the sound mmmmmm."

That means to follow the words with your finger from left to right as you read them. Your beginning reader will do the same thing for awhile.

Beginning readers may read slowly. Give your child time to decode the words, and avoid jumping in too quickly.

If your child is stuck on a word, prompt them to look at the first letter of the word and make the letter's sound. Of course, only do this for words that can be sounded out! If the word can't be sounded out, just supply the word for them.

Try these phonics activities at home

Alphabet scavenger hunt

Be sure your kindergartner knows all of her uppercase and lowercase letters. One fun and easy way to practice is to pick up a favorite read aloud book and have your child find each letter in the print, in alphabetical order. Ask your child if some letters are harder to spot in every book, and guess why that might be.

Grocery store literacy

Choose a letter as you're walking into the store. Make a game of finding things in the store that start with that letter. For example, for the letter "p" you could find peanuts, popcorn, pineapple, paper and pizza. Emphasize the letter "p" and the sound it makes with each of your "p" words.

Trace and say

Have your child use a finger to trace a letter while saying the letter's sound. Your child can trace on paper, in sand, or on a plate of sugar. Next, see if your child can trace a simple two- or three-letter word (it, at, sat) and sound it out.

The "H Brothers"

Explain to your child that sometimes two letters will stand together to create one new sound. The "H Brothers" join with other letters to make the sounds: sh, ch, th, wh and ph. Write down some example words and use multisensory props and gestures to help your child remember the new letter combination. Here's a fun idea for telling the story of the H Brothers to reinforce the concept.

Fridge fun

Magnetic letters can provide lots of easy phonics practice right in your kitchen. For an alphabet refresher, ask your child to arrange the letters in alphabetical order. Next, ask her to pick out a letter, think of a simple three- or four-letter word that starts with that letter, and spell it out on the refrigerator. Can your child think of more words to spell with that first letter? Finally, see if she can change one letter in the word to make a new word.

Scrambled words

Draw three boxes side by side on a piece of paper. Using magnetic letters or letters written on paper, scramble the letters of a simple three-letter word (big, bug, top, ran) under the boxes. Have your child unscramble the letters and place them into the correct box.

Extra, extra!

Ask your child to find and cut out all the words in a newspaper or magazine that she can read. Glue or tape them onto a piece of paper and practice reading them together.

Dig into decodable books

Through read alouds, kindergarteners should be exposed to a wide range of books that introduce them to rich vocabulary and story structure. But there is also a role for decodable books to help your child practice beginning phonics skills. Decodable books contain a high percentage of words with predictable letter-sound relationships. You'll find a comprehensive list of K-2 books here: Decodable Text Sources.

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Phonics and Decoding: Activities for Your Kindergartener

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The goal of phonics instruction is to help children learn the alphabetic principle - the idea that letters represent the sounds of spoken language - and that there is an organized, logical, and predictable relationship between written letters and spoken sounds.

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This source focusing on building skills at home this source may help families who has children who may stay at home more for various reasons.

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14 activities for building literacy at home

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Literacy is more than just reading.Developing literacy, especially in young children, also means helping a child learn to engage with the world: How to ask questions, form knowledge, imagine the (im)possible, and reflect on their experiences.

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Choose a story that may be read as a class several times a week. Have parts of the story students may recite together or individually as the teacher reads. Depending on reading levels have a student read a page out loud to the class and take turns reading. Repetition helps with fluency. Reciting as a class helps other students who may be struggling and also helps by giving students an example to go by.

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This source has activities for families that have different languages that can foster multiple languages and fluency.

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Fun and Educational Activities to Foster Language Learning at Home

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Language learning doesn’t have to be limited to textbooks and formal lessons. In fact, some of the most effective learning happens through immersive and engaging activities within the comfort of your own home. Whether your family is bilingual or you’re simply looking to enhance language skills in multiple languages, there are countless fun and educational activities you can incorporate into your daily routine. In this blog post, we’ll explore creative ideas to make language learning enjoyable fo

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This resource offers different at home activities to foster fluency.

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Your kindergartener is at the beginning stages of reading, and is working hard to master letter sounds, decode simple words, and recognize common sight words. You want to support these new reading skills without putting too much pressure on your child to read more quickly and with more expression. That kind of natural-sounding fluency comes with lots and lots of practice.

You can start gently to build your child's fluency with the activities provided here. Remember that every child develops at a different pace, and your child may not be ready for some of these activities until first grade.

Try these fluency activities at home

Choose the right books

Help your child choose books that he can comfortably read. The "five-finger test" is a useful guideline for beginning readers. As your child reads, count the number of words he cannot read per page. In general, there should be five words or fewer that give him trouble on each page. If a book contains several pages on which you count more than five words that he can't read, consider reading that book to your child until he develops more reading skill.

Listen every day

Once you've found a collection of books that your child can read, listen to your child read every day. Be patient - new readers often read slowly! Offer help when your child gets stuck, and always give lots of praise and encouragement.

Reread favorite books

Building fluency takes a lot of practice! Keep a collection of books that your child can read quickly and easily. Encourage your child to reread favorite books over and over again. With each reading, you may notice your child reading a bit easier, a bit faster, and with a bit more confidence and expression.

Read to your child every day

Model your own fluent reading as you read and reread books with your child. Even though your child may be able to read on her own, continue to find time each day to read books to her that are just beyond her reading level. She will enjoy listening to more advanced stories, and she will hear a great example of fluent reading - how you change your expression throughout a story and read with ease. Your child will hear how you raise your voice at the end of question sentence or how you change your voice for different characters.

Paired or "buddy" reading

Take turns reading aloud. You go first, as your reading provides a model of what good fluent reading sounds like. Then, ask your child to re-read the same page you just read. You'll notice that your child's reading will start to sound more and more like yours. Do this for several pages. Once your child is comfortable enough, and familiar enough with the book, take turns reading page for page.

Echo game

Choose a book at your child's reading level and read a sentence aloud using appropriate expression and pauses. Then, have your child mimic you, reading the same sentence and using the same expression and pauses. Repeat the game every few paragraphs as you read through the book.

Choral reading

Choose a book at your child's reading level and read a page or passage together in unison. You may have to slow your reading down a little to keep pace, but don't slow down too much. Encourage your child to copy your pace and expression

Practice fluency 3 ways: echo reading, partner reading, and repeated reading

This video is from Home Reading Helper, a resource for parents to elevate children's reading at home provided by Read Charlotte. Find more video, parent activities, printables, and other resources at Home Reading Helper.

Sight words

Sight words are common words kids have to recognize instantly without sounding them out. Many sight words are tricky to read - they aren't spelled the way they sound. The activity and videos below discuss how sight word recognition supports fluency, and offer easy ways to help your child learn them. Here's a list of common sight words for kindergarten.

Sight word spy

Tell your child that sight words are "hiding in plain sight" everywhere around us. Your child's "mission" is to spot the sight words out in the world (in the grocery store, on a sign, cereal box, or movie poster) and announce "aha, I found you! This silly game can get your child excited about recognizing words - as well as a boost of confidence from knowing how to read them.

Getting stuck on sight words

Many striving readers struggle with sight words. Reading expert Linda Farrell suggests this teaching sequence: first, be sure your child knows all the letter names, then all the letter sounds - and then you can introduce a few short high-frequency words such as was. Choose words that don't have regular phonetic spelling. (From our video series Reading SOS: Expert Answers to Family Questions About Reading.)

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Fluency: Activities for Your Kindergartener

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Reading fluency is a child's ability to read a book or other text accurately, with reasonable speed, and with appropriate expression. A fluent reader doesn't have to stop and "decode" each word and can focus attention on what the story or text means. Fluency is the bridge between decoding words and understanding what has been read!

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Phonemic awareness is being able to know and understand the individual sounds in the words that are spoken (National Center of Improving Literacy, 2022). Phonemic awareness is a skill developed by auditory. Being able to manipulate individual sounds is key and creates development in reading skills. Phonemic awareness encourages readers to be able to decode words by understanding different sounds of letters isolating sounds and the deletion of sounds to create different words. An example is ball starts with /b/ sound.

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Phonics include letters and their sounds. Phonics connects spoken and written words to create a connection. This skill helps a child develop spelling and decoding words. To become a fluent reader, it is important to understand sounds and the corresponding words. This helps the child decode words, spell words, and make connections to understand words that are unfamiliar. An example is B makes the /b/ sound.

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According to the University of Oregon, “fluency is the ability to read text accurately, quickly, and with proper expression (n.d.)” Fluency while reading is a skill when reading becomes more automatic. Readers that are fluent can read without struggling to decode each word. Fluency fosters development of reading due to the focus of attention on meaning of what is being read then focusing on decoding.

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Vocabulary is the understanding of a word, its meaning in a way to be able to communicate and comprehend effectively (Florida Center for Reading Research, n.d.). Vocabulary helps expand print and oral words.

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Word mapping is an interactive and open-ended activity to build and develop vocabulary. This activity can be done as a whole group. The word is in the middle of the board. Children can take turns stating words or phrases related to the main word. This helps students develop their own comprehension of the word. Synonyms and antonyms can be produced. Students can select pictures for visuals or to help communicate.

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This website offers fun and engaging activities to do at home to build vocabulary in young learners.

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Fun Ways to Build Vocabulary at Home – Practical Tips from BetterGradez — BetterGradez

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Boost your child’s vocabulary with fun, interactive activities like word jars, scavenger hunts, and reading games. Learn how BetterGradez’s 1:1 coaching builds language skills with personalized strategies. Start your child’s language learning journey today!

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At home activities for ELLs to develop vocabulary.

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Every student learns a little differently. This is especially true when it comes to ELLs who may struggle to sit through a lesson or reading they simply can't understand. As an ELL teacher, you'll need to find engaging and educational activities that help students learn the curriculum and grow social skills.

Luckily, there are hundreds of creative vocabulary, writing, listening, and speaking activities for ELLs to choose from. We've compiled some of our favorite tried-and-true activities for ELLs that get students excited about learning. While not every activity will be appropriate for your students' age group or fluency level, many of these activities can work in your classroom with modifications. Just remember - you know your students best, so choose (and adjust) the activities that work best for your classroom!

Vocabulary Activities for ELLs

ELL newcomers must build their English vocabularies quickly and exponentially. Additionally, ELLs need support in developing mastery of academic language. Here are some of our favorite in-context and isolated vocabulary activities for ELLs.

Previewing Text - Before reading, have students scan the text for words or phrases they don't know. Create a list on the board and then work together as a class to see how many you can define based on context clues and prior knowledge. You may want to create a vocabulary word wall so that students can reference these terms. Celebrate the process of discovering new words and understanding their meanings.

Word Bingo - If you have a large amount of vocabulary to cover at once, try playing word bingo. Call out the words to practice recognition, and as your students' understandings grow, you can call out definitions or fill-in-the-blank sentences to check for comprehension as well. In order to check their winning board, students must read back the words they've marked. Games like bingo can also help students build confidence in their pronunciation alongside other listening and speaking activities for ELLs.

Mad Libs - This simple game is a great way to test word recognition and teach definitions at the same time. Create a paragraph of text using your vocabulary words. Then, remove either the vocabulary words themselves or the context clues around them. Students take turns filling in the words or the context clue words that reveal their definitions.

Picture Dictionary - Picture dictionaries are a great classroom resource, but having students create their own picture dictionaries is one of the best vocabulary activities for ELLs. Provide a template with words in place and then offer drawing materials, magazine clippings, clip art, or even a camera to help students create images that will help them remember each word. Since they choose what to draw and how to draw it, they'll be more likely to create personal connections with each word, assisting with vocabulary retention.

Categorizing and Connecting - Appropriate for all levels of ELLs, categorizing vocabulary and showing connections among words is easy and effective. Give students familiar and new vocabulary words in whatever platform you'd like. Students should categorize the words according to what makes sense to them. You can pair it with discussions or short writing activities. Throughout the unit, build upon the vocabulary and have students repeat the activity as many times as you'd like as a formative assessment. By the end of the unit, students should be able to make connections and categorize the vocabulary for the unit. This is a great way to scaffold a large writing or speaking assignment and can be modified for newcomers with the use of pictures.

Writing Activities for ELLs

In addition to listening and speaking activities for ELLs, writing is less time-depending and therefore offers unique opportunities to build vocabulary in context and demonstrate critical thinking. For many, writing activities for ELLs are one of the best ways to check their understanding without the pressure of speaking in front of the class. Here are some of our favorite writing activities for ELLs.

Social Media Writing Prompts - Social media prompts are a great way to make writing more fun and engaging for students. Ask them to summarize a story they read in five "tweets" or short sentences. Provide photos and ask them to write an "Instagram" caption for each. The possibilities are endless and students love the tie-in to social media.

Write an Advertisement - Ask students to bring in a favorite object (or a photo of it) and then write an ad that tells the class why they should buy one, too. This is a great way to introduce persuasive writing and allow students to share their passions and hobbies with the class.

Practicing Proofreading - Proofreading can be stressful for students because they are often asked to correct another student's work and identify errors on their own. Instead, create a writing sample yourself and ask for your students' help as a class to take turns finding mistakes and correcting them.

The "New" Student - This is one of the best writing activities for ELLs because it also tests their understanding of classroom rules and procedures. Tell the class you want to compile a list of tips for an imaginary new student joining the class. Then, ask each student to create a list, letter, or idea web of everything they think the new student should know. Review the final list as a class to reinforce any classroom procedures that still need practice.

Listening Activities for ELLs

Listening is one of the most essential skills students will need to develop to find success in the classroom. Listening activities test cognition, retention, and their ability to follow instructions. Check out these engaging and interactive listening activities for ELLs.

Simon Says - This classic game is fun and practical. It can be played traditionally or with classroom-oriented instructions like "Simon says pick up your red marker" to practice relevant vocabulary. You can also extend the game by adding flashcards.

Two Truths and a Lie - Students come up with three statements about themselves, including two true statements and one false. The other students discuss and choose which is the lie. This game can be played in pairs, small groups, or as a class. You can also provide groups of three statements about a current topic in the classroom.

Back-to-Back Interview - This game is one of our favorite listening and speaking activities for ELLs because it eliminates facial expressions and gestures, forcing students to truly rely on their listening skills. Students sit in pairs, facing away from one another. One student is the interviewer and asks the other student questions to learn more about them. Then the students switch. Once both students have been interviewed, they share what they learned about the other student with the class. This game can also be played where you or a student play as a book character or celebrity and the other students have to figure out who you are.

Flashcard Games - These games can be especially helpful with tricky vocabulary sets like minimal pairs. Students lay out a set of flashcards on their desk and listen carefully for the word the teacher calls out or uses in a sentence. Color code your flashcards for a quick way to check the class's answers.

I Spy/Scavenger Hunt - Instead of giving an object or a color, start by giving students phonemes or letter sounds (e.g. I spy something that starts with "ch"). You can then follow up with additional clues about the object until the class finds it.

Long-Form Listening - In addition to short-form listening and speaking activities for ELLs, offer your students audio options during silent reading time as well. Audiobooks, podcasts, and even kids-oriented news shows provide engaging listening for ELLs of all ages and skill levels. Follow up the listening with a discussion or questions to check for comprehension.

Speaking Activities for ELLs

Speaking in front of the class can be difficult for many students, so fun and engaging listening and speaking activities for ELLs can make a big difference in the classroom. Here are a few of our favorite ideas to get your students talking.

Question of the Day - This speaking activity for ELLs is a perfect option for morning work as students arrive. Each day, choose a simple, silly, or strange question and have students answer it as they enter the classroom. This is a great activity even for ELL newcomers since all eyes won't be on them, and you have the option to ask follow-up questions or continue the conversation as much or as little as you want to.
To make this activity even more newcomer-friendly, offer a handful of questions all week long and allow students to choose the question they want to answer each day. This way they can get to know the questions better and practice their answers over time.

Desert Island - In pairs, small groups, or as a class, students take turns choosing an object in the room. The next student has to come up with a way to use the object to survive on a desert island. There are no wrong answers, which can take some of the pressure off of speaking in front of the class. For another fun twist on this activity, have students role play and pretend to be a character instead of themselves, explaining how the character might use the item in their story.

Mini Debates - Create a list of opinions you want the class to weigh in on. They can be related to a recent lesson or reading, or something random like "purple is the best color." Create two groups: one to make an argument for your statement, and one to make an argument against. This is a great way of teaching persuasive speech and also helping ELLs learn to think on their feet. It can also be an exercise in empathy since the student may not agree with the stance they're given.

Similarities and Differences - Students pair off (or turn to the student next to them) and take turns asking questions until they discover one commonality and one difference between them. Then the students take turns sharing with the class. In addition to being a great speaking activity for ELLs, this is also a good way to explore and celebrate cultural differences in your classroom.

Songs, Rhymes, and Responses - Especially for ELL newcomers, speaking in front of the class can be daunting. Group speaking can help take the pressure off, so don't be afraid to experiment with different formats like songs, rhymes, and "call and response" to get ELLs speaking. Whatever you choose, use it often to help students learn and memorize their parts.

Thank you to Ellen Richardson, an ELL teacher at Abraham Lincoln Middle School in Lancaster, PA for consulting on this blog post. This blog was originally published on May 28, 2021. It was updated on January 19, 2023.

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Writing, Listening, and Speaking Activities for ELLs | Continental

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Writing, listening, and speaking activities for ELLs are an interactive way to teach new subject matter. Here are 20 of our favorites to try.

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Comprehension is a complex process of multiple abilities that creates the ability to read, process, and have a complete understanding of a meaning (Oxford University Press, 2025). Comprehension creates an ability to be invested in what is being read. This produces an understanding that what is being read is understood and expanded on.

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Mixed up story. Create a sequencing activity for a story that was read in class. Have students work together to place the events in the right order. This activity can also be done with visuals to help any students that may having reading difficulties given them opportunities to help in the group.

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This website has many activities for families to help encourage and develop comprehension at home.

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31 Effective Reading Comprehension Activities - Teaching Expertise

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Here is a list of reading comprehension activities. You can use them to enhance your students’ reading comprehension as well as introduce new techniques.

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A comprehension activity source for ESLs for at home.

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BridgeUniverse - TEFL Blog, News, Tips & Resources

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12 Fun ESL Reading Comprehension Activities for All Levels!

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Check out these ESL reading comprehension activities that are sure to engage and inspire. Incorporate these in person or online!

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10 Ways to Support Your Child's Literacy at Home

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Supporting your child's literacy activities at home can help develop reading ability, comprehension, and language skills and improve your child's interest in reading, attitude toward reading, and focus.

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I'll never forget the wide-eyed look and broad smile on a fourth-grader's face when I asked him if he was willing to read in a different way. He had a reading disability, and I had just taken him to the school library and told him to choose any chapter books that he was interested in reading, not just the "baby books"-his words-that he could independently decode. His picks were available and downloaded within minutes from Bookshare, an Office of Special Education Programs -funded organization that provides a vast library of free accessible ebooks for students with print disabilities who qualify.

This intersection of choice, self-determination, and technology was powerful-it started an entire new chapter of self-confidence and independence for this student.

Students with reading disabilities can interact with texts in a variety of ways. They can decode, they can listen to an in-person read-aloud, or they can listen to human audio text or digital text, also called text-to-speech (TTS). Using TTS allows for equity and access. If struggling readers are limited to text they can decode, how can they enjoy the richness of written language, participate in class discussions, learn academic content, and develop a love for reading? Text-to-speech opens up new worlds for them.

Research demonstrates that using text-to-speech tools increases engagement and allows students to access grade-level content and material, as well as websites and books of interest. Interaction with curricular content can help students improve their vocabulary, comprehension, reading accuracy, and fluency. Perhaps most importantly, the use of TTS improves students' positive feelings about reading and school.

Assistive Technology Tools and Digital Text Build Capacity

Students and teachers need a variety of tools in their toolboxes. Bookshare delivers with its extensive repository, reading tools, and ability to provide textbooks and honor text requests, giving students vast digital resources for both personal and academic use.

Learning Ally, a fee-based organization that sometimes takes requests, provides books with human audio, which is sometimes preferred for pleasure reading. Human audio text may or may not have simultaneous text highlighting to support tracking and does not have a mechanism to interact directly with text.

Many factors affect tool choice and use. A student reading a novel might use an assistive technology (AT) tool that can highlight and annotate digital text, instead of relying on a phone app that reads a menu or email, for example.

Settings where students learn and work, such as large classrooms, small groups, or the kitchen table, also impact tool choice and use. Staff, family, and student buy-in, as well as access to and ability to use AT tools, remain key factors in effective implementation. Keep in mind that students, environments, tasks, and technology change. Ideally, exploring AT tools and services should be an ongoing, problem-solving process throughout students' academic careers.

To assist students, teachers need to ask, "What is the goal of the activity? And is the student learning to read, or reading to learn?" Remediation and accommodation can coexist, and they can be balanced and beneficial in educational settings. Remediation assists the student in overcoming academic challenges and developing mastery, while accommodations such as AT include alterations of the environment, curriculum format, or equipment that empower an individual with a disability to gain access to content and/or complete assigned tasks. Using AT is not cheating; rather, assistive technology can change the academic trajectory of students with reading and writing challenges.

Teacher, Parent, and Student Teamwork Is Key

It's not enough to know what AT tools can do. We need to teach students how to use the tools, how they can improve their work, how to advocate for tool access, and how to choose the right tool for the task and environment. We need to make time for students to explore the tools in-depth and collect data on how the tools aid engagement and performance.

Furthermore, teachers need support in learning the tools, integrating the tools, and troubleshooting problems in real-time. "Show and tell" alone doesn't cut it-ongoing student and teacher coaching with clear expectations for tool use, understanding of how and when to access support, and outcome measures are key. And when teachers collaborate and communicate across content areas to ensure tools are successfully embedded across the curriculum, students succeed.

Parent education is also critical. Parents need to know when their child will be better served decoding text, reading digital text, or listening to audio text. They need to understand AT use and how to support their children at home and across educational settings so they can meaningfully participate and advocate within educational teams.

In many districts and households, lack of knowledge and limited budgets can negatively impact access to and provision of quality AT services. The individual and societal costs of illiteracy are immense. Bottom line: The literature supports the premise that students with learning differences who use AT transition more successfully to high school, show improved quality of work, gain positive perceptions of themselves as learners, and experience positive post-school outcomes. Such intersection of choice, self-determination, and technology can be powerful. How can we afford not to provide a valuable resource like assistive technology tools?

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Tools for Supporting Students With Reading Disabilities

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I'll never forget the wide-eyed look and broad smile on a fourth-grader's face when I asked him if he was willing to read in a different way. He had a reading disability, and I had just taken him to the school library and told him to choose any chapter books that he was interested in reading, not just the "baby books"-his words-that he could independently decode.

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The Five Components of Reading | Discovery Education Blog

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Learn about the Five Components of Reading and how DreamBox Reading 3-12 helps educators support component development.

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Hello, from The Literacy Bug,

At this time, we'd like to take the opportunity to share some links to a few quality (mostly free) educational resources that we have come across in the last few years.

We appreciate that many of you may be home schooling children during the present COVID-19 outbreak, or you may be organising remote teaching/support for children. The following may serve as useful resources.

We'd also like to ask the community to share their own suggestions. If you have further recommended resources, please add a comment to the blog or send us an email at info@theliteracybug.com. We'd love to hear from you.

Please note: The following suggestions are not designed to replace the teaching ideas that dedicated teachers are sending home for parents. It's important to work together to avoid a significant disruption to children's education.

If you are looking for suggestions consistent with the "Big Six", then look here ...

Research clearly demonstrates that budding readers benefit from activities that develop the "Big Six" skills: oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.

This is where the FLORIDA CENTRE FOR READING RESEARCH (FCRR) can help. Their comprehensive set of Student Centre Activities provides a wealth of teaching ideas across the Big Six skills for a wide range of ages (preschool to Grade 5). All materials are available freely to the public.

We do note that it can be a bit daunting to teach using just the activities above, which is why FCRR also includes further planning, teaching and monitoring resources:

We all know how to read to our preschoolers ... right? ... here are a few extra ideas to support children's early literacy skills

Developed by the Crane Centre for Early Childhood Research and Policy at Ohio State University, READ IT AGAIN-PREK! is a practitioner-friendly, scientifically based, and relevant curricular supplement designed to develop and strengthen young children's early foundations in language and literacy.

All lessons are organized around adult-child readings of high-quality storybooks.

Each lesson idea is designed to systematically build children's language and literacy abilities in four areas key pre-literacy areas:

Please note that each lesson is centred around particular picture books. In many cases, you will not have access to these exact books, but you can explore the teaching ideas in the support material and apply these ideas to the book you have access to.

There are a lot of phonics apps out there, so we have a couple recommendations that may spark your interest

FEED THE MONSTER is a free, engaging Android game that helps children develop basic understanding of vowel sounds, consonant sounds and simple words. In other words, children:

What's more important is that Feed the Monster is available in over 40 languages including English, Español, Français, Kiswahili, Hindi, and Farsi. The game was initially developed with support from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation and USAID and was a winner in the EduApp4Syria contest. It is being further developed by Curious Learning, a global nonprofit focused on promoting literacy.

The various Feed the Monster games (including English) can be found on GooglePlay at https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Curious%20Learning

SOUNDS ENGLISH PHONICS is an innovative new learn-to-read app from the educational company Zaprendo.

It is important to note that the game is NOT a beginning phonics app. It is designed for students who have reached the 'early reading phase' (a reading age of about 6.5 years) and is based on 92 written sounds that occur most frequently in early reading material. Many of these are vowel dipthongs as well as blended consonant sounds - such as 'bl'. This makes good sense for early readers (as opposed to emergent readers) as this extends students who have already mastered basic short vowels and CVC constructs.

The app recommends that learners focus on three sounds per day (with accompanying words). All learning is organised around the "Great Learning Tree", which provides a visible indications of the learner's progress.

What is most impressive is the adaptive learning feature, which monitors the words that children get right and wrong. The system uses this information to determine and modify the sequence of letter-sounds that learners encounter in the game.

Please explore and enjoy! And note, this is a paid app.
https://zaprendo.com/apps/

Are you looking for free reading materials for early readers in English but also in a range of other languages?

STORYWEAVER is a digital repository of multilingual stories for children from Pratham Books. Storyweaver is designed to provide children with richly illustrated, open-licensed children's stories in mother tongue languages (including English). The stories are levelled by reading difficulty, so you can find free texts at the right level for your emerging reader.

All the stories are available online and offline. They are downloadable as PDFs for easy printing, and there are also a number of readalong stories in the repository.

https://storyweaver.org.in

Another resource with a similar intent is the GLOBAL DIGITAL LIBRARY from the Global Book Alliance. Keep a look out for the following resource as it is sure to grow in the coming months.

https://www.digitallibrary.io

Are you looking for accessible, information texts for developing readers?

TEXTPROJECT'S "FYI FOR KIDS" resource provides a wealth of free, short, accessible texts with accompanying activities. These texts can be used to help developing readers focus increasing attention on how to extract key information as they read.

There are texts in a range of difficulties and in diverse subject areas, including science, social studies, arts, music, history and culture. The website also now includes an easy-to-use search tool to filter text by difficulty and topic.

http://textproject.org/teachers/students/fyi-for-kids/

Are you looking for even more reading materials to help expand learners' understanding of the world around them?

NEWSELA is an innovative site with resources designed to build reading comprehension from a relevant, contemporary source of nonfiction: the daily news.

Newsela includes articles ranging from sport, the arts, to politics, and more. All articles are sourced from reputable new outlets like the Washington Post, Scientific American, the History Channel, and much, much more.

The key is this, though: Newsela creates multiple versions of each article for different skills and abilities. In other words, there will be version written at a Grade 3 level, a Grade 5 level, a Grade 7 level, and so on.

It makes it easy for an entire class to read the same content yet differentiated to suit differing levels of reading skills. In other words, academically challenging content can be presented within the zone of proximal development of the learner.

Please explore and enjoy. You'll be pleased that you did.

https://newsela.com

Are you wishing to challenge learners with academic vocabulary and enagaging topics?

WORD GENERATION is a research-based program for late primary and middle school students which is designed to teach academic vocabulary in language arts, math, science and social studies classes. It is a program that builds academic vocabulary across subject areas by facilitating deep discussion about concepts and issues of concern to children and young people.

Each unit introduces approximately five or six high-utility academic "focus words" and is designed to offer a variety of texts, word-learning activities, writing tasks, and debate and/or discussion opportunities. Specifically, each unit helps:

expand general and content-oriented academic vocabulary;

build the reasoning and argumentation skills that are necessary for learning in all content areas; and

build reading comprehension and content-area literacy by providing students with motivating text, opportunities for discussion and debate, and weekly writing.

Please explore and enjoy:

Do you need resources to help adolescent readers develop key fluency and deep comprehension skills?

Serp Institute's STARI program (or Strategic Adolescent Reading Intervention) is a literature-focused intervention for students in grades 6-9 who read two or more years below grade level. STARI addresses gaps in fluency, decoding, reading stamina, and comprehension, aiming to move struggling students to higher levels of proficiency whilst providing cognitively challenging content that is aligned to the Common Core and other 21st century standards.

Each units includes a range of materials to support growing fluency, comprehension, critical thinking and academic development.

Check this one out: https://www.serpinstitute.org/stari

COMMONLIT is a nonprofit education technology organization dedicated to ensuring that all students develop strong reading, writing, communication, and problem-solving skills.

The system includes over 2,000 high-quality free reading passages for grades 3-12, complemented by questions, paired readings and activities to promote deep consideration of important social, environmental and historical issues.

This includes:

individual texts (organised by grade level and theme);

texts organised into units of study; and

novel (book) studies that guide students into deep, critical thinking.

Please note that CommonLit now includes a range of Spanish content, as well.

https://www.commonlit.org

Last but not least, the COMPREHENSION CIRCUIT TRAINING (CCT) resource from The Meadows Centre provides a range of scaffolds to support youth to read with an analytical and critical mind. The CCT resource is part of the broader PACT project (Promoting Adolescents' Comprehension of Text)

Please stay connected and reach out if you have further ideas and resources that you'd like to share

We are really pleased to share this list with you. It's not a comprehensive list, but hopefully it has some useful ideas. To explore further, please visit our list of recommended links.

If you'd like to add any further recommendations, please let us know. We are keen to hear from you. Please add a comment to the blog or send us an email at info@theliteracybug.com.

Bye for now.

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12 Recommended Resources to Support Reading Development Across Age Groups - The Literacy Bug

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Hello, from The Literacy Bug, At this time, we'd like to take the opportunity to share some links to a few quality (mostly free) educational resources that we have come across in the last few years.

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These resources offer different ways to help your child with literacy skills. Browse them all or jump to the section you need.

Best practices for teaching and learning literacy

Reading Interventions Video Series: This series from Reading Rockets shows how a reading expert works with kids in different grades to teach specific skills. (7 episodes, 12-18 min each) Also see Working with Struggling Readers - Every Child Can Succeed.

Target the Problem: Learn how teachers (and parents) can identify trouble spots and help students improve their skills in those areas. From Reading Rockets.

What the Words Say: Many children struggle with reading - and children of color are far less likely to get the help they need This article describes how common reading struggles are, how they can affect a child's life, and some of the teaching strategies that are critical to helping kids learn to read in the early school years.

How do I know if my child's reading skills are on target?
Learn more:
Resources to help your child at home

Reading Practice Strategies and Activities:

Is your child struggling with reading? Here are 5 ways you can help at home. Blog from Exceptional Lives.

Tools from Learning Heroes: Choose for a subject and then your child's grade. Get a list of specific reading activities.

Working on specific skills: Learn what parents, teachers and kids themselves notice when they struggle with each skill, and then what each can do to improve it. From Reading Rockets.

Videos:

Understanding literacy-related learning disabilities (LDs)

About Reading Disabilities, Learning /Disabilities, and Reading Difficulties: This short article from Reading Rockets describes reading disabilities, how they differ from reading difficulties, and what you can do to help.

Also see Dyslexia Resources, below.

Dyslexia Resources

Does my child have dyslexia? This page from Exceptional Lives shares the basics of dyslexia, including what it is, the common signs, and what to do about it. This is a page from a whole guide about What to Do if Your Child Struggles in School.

Basics of Dyslexia: Through video and other resources, learn about dyslexia and how to help kids who have it. From Reading Rockets.

15 Guided Reading Activities, Classroom Accommodations, and Teaching Strategies for Students with Dyslexia: This article from Waterford.org is meant for teachers, but can also give parents an idea of what can help their child with dyslexia.

Dyslexia: FAQs for Parents. Lists and answers frequently asked questions about what to do if you think your child may have dyslexia, and how the Louisiana schools should respond.

A Guide to Dyslexia in Louisiana: This covers the policies in LA for identifying and teaching students with dyslexia. It is mainly written for teachers and school districts but has useful information for parents about the process and their rights.

The resources below are from Louisiana, but everything except the LEAP testing information should be helpful to anyone.

Louisiana Dept. of Education (LDOE) Resources

Louisiana's Literacy Plan: Describes the state's 4 "pillars" of literacy education goals, and how the LA Department of Education is supporting teachers and families to improve literacy outcomes.

Virtual Instruction Guide: Tips for Parents about virtual learning

ELA Guidebooks Parent Guides: Explain the purpose and activities of the English Language Arts units for each grade level. They include extra activities for students who are struggling, including vocabulary support, audio recordings and video supplements to learn more about the topic.

K-12 Standards for ELA: This detailed document describes the reading and writing skills that students are supposed to master in each grade level. This can help parents to understand what their children should be learning to do with written text, and how the skills should progress from Kindergarten through high school. Also see ELA/Literacy skills by grade.

Dyslexia: FAQs for Parents. Lists and answers frequently asked questions about what to do if you think your child may have dyslexia, and how the Louisiana schools should respond.

A Guide to Dyslexia in Louisiana: This covers the policies in LA for identifying and teaching students with dyslexia. It is mainly written for teachers and school districts but has useful information for parents about the process and their rights.

Bulletin 1903: Regulations and Guidelines for Implementation of the Louisiana Law for the Education of Dyslexic Students. This describes the legal responsibilities of the school system in identifying and teaching students with dyslexia. It is a complicated document, but includes specific information that can help parents to be sure the school is complying with the process and rights of their child. It could be a good thing to print out and discuss with your child's teacher or IEP team.

LEAP 2025 Testing:

LEAP stands for Louisiana Educational Assessment Program. These are standardized state tests that measure how well a student has learned the course content for a certain subject. There are LEAP 2025 tests for these subjects: English I, English II, Algebra 1, Geometry, US History and Biology.

Activities to Support Reading from the Louisiana Department of Education:

At Home Literacy Activities: Brief descriptions of several activities. If you need these in another language, go to this link and scroll to the bottom.

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Literacy resources for families of children struggling with reading

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If your child is struggling with reading, there are many resources you can use to support them. Here are some of our favorites.