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Choosing and Using Decodable Texts: Practical Tips and Strategies for Enhancing Phonics Instruction

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Amazon.com: Choosing and Using Decodable Texts: Practical Tips and Strategies for Enhancing Phonics Instruction: 9781338714630: Blevins, Wiley: Books

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Knowledge Building to Support Readers and Inquiry

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Knowledge Building to Support Readers and Inquiry

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YoYoyogi IS KG-G2 Online Coaching  Community Follow-Up (Oct 2024) (3)

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justine@erinkentconsulting
https://www.linkedin.com/in/justine-otte/

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Take advantage of the amazing resources found on the EKC Community!

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Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

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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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"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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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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Your Research-based Guide to Developing Skilled Readers. 300+ strategies with learning progressions support 13 reading goals, with each strategy cross-linked to skills, teacher tips, prompts, research, and reading levels-everything from fluency to literary analysis.

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Conversations with researchers and scholars and how to apply what research suggests in classrooms.

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conversations with researchers and Educators

The collection of knowledge and advice about best practices in literacy education is always evolving. This is both a gift and a challenge. In my new podcast for educators,I interview leading researchers and scholars to understand current, relevant, and digestible answers to all things literacy, learning, and best-practice, regardless of an educator's approach to literacy instruction. I'm joined by colleagues from my consulting team, and classroom educators, to debrief the researcher interview and answer the question, "How will we take what we've learned to the classroom?"

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To the Classroom: Conversations with Researchers and Educators - Jennifer Serravallo Author & Consulting

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Jennifer Serravallo interviews leading researchers and scholars about important findings, and has post-interview conversations about practical takeaways with colleagues from her consulting team.

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Melissa and Lori Love Litereacy

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Hi Teacher Friends! Welcome to Melissa and Lori Love Literacy, the weekly podcast that discusses all things literacy. We love to tackle big ideas about the way we teach reading and writing within the science of reading.

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Free Decodable Story Generator for the Science of Reading · Project Read

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Generate a decodable story compatible with any Science of Reading-based phonics curriculum for free. Download a student-friendly PDF in seconds.

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About the cover artist

Elizabeth Close is an Anangu woman from the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara language groups in the APY Lands in outback South Australia. She was born in Adelaide and spent much of her upbringing in remote communities, learning her language and receiving cultural education.

'This artwork represents the literacy and numeracy learning journey, and the path towards independent learning. The circles represent the collaborative learning and supports around children with specific learning difficulties, including children, schools, families, SPELD SA and others.'  Elizabeth Close, Artist.
Click here for printing tips

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About the cover artist Elizabeth Close is an Anangu woman from the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara language groups in the APY Lands in outback South Australia. She was born in Adelaide and spent much of her upbringing in remote communities, learning her language and receiving cultural education.

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Text Project

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The Reading GPS gives teachers information about whether students are moving toward the goal of proficient reading.

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Decodable Text Linda Farrell  Michael Hunter Oct 2021

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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
Starfall

Other decodable books to purchase

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If you want hard copies of the books for your students and your school cannot afford to buy them, many teachers have written grants to obtain them, asked their PTO for help or used websites such as Donors Choose who buy materials for classrooms. It is unlawful to copy the books!

Please know that these digital books show up best on computers or iPad and tablets rather than phones.

In addition, you will see that I have listed the skills that children need to learn, BEFORE reading each set of books. Each book builds upon the skills from previous books so the books should be presented in sequence. An explicit, systematic, sequential and cumulative approach to teaching reading is the Science of Reading!

I have also included links to the FREE Teaching Guides, Activity Pages and Literacy Centers. You have permission to download and print these supplemental resources but you do not have permission to change the content and/or resell them.

Thank you and happy reading!

LuAnn Santillo, Author

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Online Materials Portal - Half Pint Kids Decodable Books

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If you want hard copies of the books for your students and your school cannot afford to buy them, many teachers have written grants to obtain them, asked their PTO for help or used websites such as Donors Choose who buy materials for classrooms. It is unlawful to copy the books!

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Flyleaf Publishing - Online Materials Portal

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For Students - Flyleaf Publishing - Online Materials Portal

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Scaffolding Comprehension with Text Sets

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Scaffolding Comprehension with Text Sets

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YoYoyogi IS KG-G2 Online Coaching  Community Follow-Up (Oct 2024) (2)

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YoYoyogi IS KG-G2 Online Coaching  Community Follow-Up (Oct 2024) (1)

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Add a post in this column for each grade level. List your ideas for various connected texts that leverage UOI 'lines of inquiry' as a knowledge base for language comprehension.

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YoYoyogi IS KG-G2 Online Coaching  Community Follow-Up (Oct 2024)

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Save a copy of this planner and use it to plan, step-by-step, for an intentional and high leverage interactive language experience.

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EKC Read Aloud Comprehension Planning Guide

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Yoyogi IS K-2 Interactive Read Aloud (Nov 2024)

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Yoyogi IS K-2 Interactive Read Aloud (Nov 2024) (1)

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Yoyogi IS K-2 Interactive Read Aloud (Nov 2024) (2)

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Considerations when Planning an Interactive Read Aloud

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Considerations when Planning an Interactive Read Aloud

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Yoyogi IS K-2 Interactive Read Aloud (Nov 2024) (3)

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Yoyogi IS K-2 Supporting Language Comprehension (Jan 2025) (1)

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Add a post with your partner in this column.

Optional sentence starters for your post:

"This read-aloud was impactful because..."

"During [title of the book], a strong aspect of the interactive experience was..."

"A standout moment from [title of the book] was..."

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Yoyogi IS K-2 Supporting Language Comprehension (Jan 2025)

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This read aloud helped with students identifying the beginning, middle and end of a story's plot and we also focused on the characters emotions and how they caused their actions. Since the main character goes to several different settings, it was also fun for students to guess where she would go next and memorable for them when they needed to identify the setting of the story.

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The book in question was to do with the current UOI (StP)

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-Lots of diversity in illustrations.

-Age/level appropriate.

-Planned for the unit and the week of field trip.

-Easy to understand diagrams.

-Also chimes with our writing unit (info writing).

-Gives ideas on what students can do to combat climate change which will lead into final activity next week.

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Yoyogi IS K-2 Supporting Language Comprehension (Jan 2025) (2)

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Consider these levels of processing when planning for comprehension.

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Yoyogi IS K-2 Supporting Language Comprehension (Jan 2025) (3)

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Language Comprehension Learning Engagement Ideas

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Language Comprehension Learning Engagement Ideas

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Yoyogi IS K-2 Supporting Language Comprehension (Jan 2025) (4)

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Grade 1 Learning Engagement Examples based on UOI / HWW

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Grade 1 Learning Engagement Examples based on UOI / HWW

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Yoyogi IS K-2 Supporting Language Comprehension (Jan 2025) (5)

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Assessing Language Comprehension Global Chat

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Assessing Language Comprehension Global Chat

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Access this conversation through your community membership with Dr. Trina Spencer, Dr. Doug Peterson and Erin Kent on assessing language comprehension. The Cubed 3 assessment is introduced in this global chat.

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Login to Erin Kent Consulting community via email or SSO today.

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Cubed 3 - Language Comprehension and Word Recognition Assessment Overview 

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Cubed 3 - Language Comprehension and Word Recognition Assessment Overview 

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Screener
K/1-Letter names/sounds, phonemic awareness
G2+-ORF+Vocab

(Acadience, DIBELS/mClass,  EasyCBM and AIMSWEB are the most popular and best researched data storage brands)

Diagnostic Tools
Decoding (CORE Phonics Survey)--sourced from here
Phonemic Awareness (CORE) or check out Heggerty--remember the phoneme level is the important focus

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As a grade level team please add a post to this column sharing 2 shifts in literacy instruction that have had a positive impact on learning and 1 shift that you would like to dedicate further attention to.

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REVISED Differentiation and Responsive Small Groups

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REVISED Differentiation and Responsive Small Groups

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Start here once you know your students and the general focus area. This is a one stop shop for EKC planners.

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Take 5 minutes and sort your students into the areas you think are getting in the way of their reading.

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Quick Sort for Student Needs - Small Group Decisions

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Yoyogi IS K-2 Session 4 Responsive Planning (Apr 2025) (2)

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Yoyogi IS K-2 Session 4 Responsive Planning (Apr 2025) (3)

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Yoyogi IS K-2 Session 4 Responsive Planning (Apr 2025) (4)

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Yoyogi IS K-2 Session 4 Responsive Planning (Apr 2025) (5)

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Yoyogi IS K-2 Session 4 Responsive Planning (Apr 2025) (6)

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Use data or predictable challenges to determine small group needs

Choose the most relevant type of small group

Use the examples & planning tools on the padlet to help plan a small group

We will share our plans in X minutes

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Yoyogi IS K-2 Session 4 Responsive Planning (Apr 2025)

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Kindergarten

2 areas of growth = bookmaking; students have started with free choice writing and along the year worked more on ones with prompts

Increased amount of relevant texts to UOI to support vocabulary acquisition and background knowledge

Area to focus on further - differentiated grouping

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We've had good results in including more decodable text to support phonics instruction. We have also been incorporating feedfoward and literacy rotations to have more opportunities for student growth.

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G2 Areas of improvement and moving forward

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G2 Areas of improvement and moving forward

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-Scarborough's Rope

-Emphasis on phonics

-Variety of books (two triangles!) in class library

-More read alouds