# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Four Letter Words || Preschool Learning || 4 Letter Words Kids Education Video || 4 Letters words

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Learn ABC With Spelling | ABCD/THE PHONIC SONG/LEARNING VIDEO

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Writing Strategies | 6 Ways to Start a Sentence | Sentence Structure | Learn to Write

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What Does Good Writing Look Like - Educational Video for Elementary Students in Writing Instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As promised in my last post I've provided here a few practical strategies for connecting your writing and reading programs:

1. Use the same terminology for writing and reading. When writing fiction, students should use the words of literary analysis: character, setting, plot, theme, and so forth. So, too, when reading nonfiction, students should use the traits of writing: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. By using a common vocabulary throughout the language arts curriculum, you not only avoid confusion but also help students see themselves as writer-readers and reader-writers.

2. Use the same graphic organizers for writing and reading. The graphic organizers that help students gather details during prewriting can also help them analyze details after reading. For example, if students use a Venn diagram to prepare to write a comparison-contrast essay, have them also use a Venn diagram to analyze a comparison-contrast essay. Graphic organizers, after all, are mind maps-ways of making thinking concrete. Using the same strategy to synthesize ideas as to analyze ideas helps students understand that reading and writing are opposite vectors of the same process.

3. Write the forms you are reading, and read the forms you are writing. Plan your reading and writing time to complement each other. If you are reading short stories, write short stories. If you are writing expository essays, read expository essays. Each activity deepens the other. A student who has read "Tyger! Tyger!" by William Blake may love it, but the student who has written "Wombat! Wombat!" in satirical response understands the poem from the inside out-and will never forget it.

4. Use literature to demonstrate writing techniques. Use literature to show the traits, concepts, skills, and techniques students are using when they write. For example, when you want students to learn how to create narrative tension, introduce excerpts from short stories that use this technique. Then lead a discussion of how the authors do what they do. When teaching about answering objections, select editorials that do just that and discuss how the answers strengthen the writers' positions.

5. Use writing to explore literary techniques. When students not only learn about literary techniques but have to use them in writing, they internalize the concepts. So, if you want students to understand a literary technique such as foreshadowing, have them write a paragraph that uses foreshadowing. When you want students to learn about symbolism in a piece of literature, have them create their own symbols and use them in a short piece of writing.

6. Be the bridge. In the end, though, the best integration of reading and writing in your classroom comes from you and your students. Programs can only go so far. They are repositories of models and assignments, but you and your students are the reader-writers and the writer-readers who bring the language-arts community to life. If the books get in your way, shove them into a corner and sit down with your students and just write and read, read and write. Words are your friends.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Blog post: Strategies for Connecting Writing and Reading

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As promised in my last post I've provided here a few practical strategies for connecting your writing and reading programs: Use the same terminology for writing and reading. When writing fiction, students should use the words of literary analysis: character, setting, plot, theme, and so forth.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
We know that learning how to read is essential for success in school. Students need to be able to close read, annotate, and comprehend assignments and texts across all subjects.

So we looked through our archives and consulted the research to arrive at a list of strategies that could develop strong reading skills and confidence for all students-including struggling readers.

Try Choral Reading or Partner Reading

There are better alternatives to round-robin and popcorn reading: "Of the 30-odd studies and articles I've consumed on the subject," says Todd Finley, a professor of English education, "only one graduate research paper claimed a benefit to round-robin reading or its variations." It simply doesn't benefit students to have poor fluency skills and pronunciation modeled, and asking students to take turns reading aloud in front of the whole class can stigmatize struggling readers.

Partner reading is another low-stakes, research-backed strategy. A pair of students alternate reading a text aloud, then taking the role of the listener. The listener asks probing questions to check that the reader comprehends the text. Having the stronger reader go first benefits struggling readers because they hear the difficult words before reading them aloud themselves. This form of peer monitoring and questioning improves reading fluency, according to a 2007 study.

Assign Cross-Grade Reading Buddies

Pairing students from upper and lower grades to read together has academic and social and emotional benefits that flow both ways. The little kids see greater reading fluency modeled and profit from the one-to-one attention of a mentoring relationship; the upper elementary kids learn by answering questions and develop crucial skills like empathy and patience. Additionally, for older kids who struggle with grade-level reading, the experience allows them to access simpler texts without shame-all the while increasing their confidence by taking on a leadership role.

Student pairs can meet at least once a month for 30 minutes. At first, let the younger students choose the books to increase their engagement; later, have older students share their favorite reads. As the younger kids' skills develop, they can start reading too, instead of just listening.

Make Ear Reading Available to Your Class

Ear reading, listening to an audiobook while reading, is a great approach-at least periodically-for all students, but it has particular benefits for struggling readers and students with dyslexia. In a 2010 study, students with dyslexia who listened to audiobooks showed significant gains in reading accuracy, improved behavior and school performance, and greater motivation and school involvement. You can get human-read audiobooks and textbooks from Learning Ally, a nonprofit focused on supporting K-12 struggling readers. OverDrive, Bookshare, and Audible also provide audiobooks.

Although ear reading is an effective strategy for supporting students with dyslexia, it doesn't replace explicit, step-by-step phonics-based instruction, also known as structured literacy, which remains one of the most effective reading strategies for students with the condition. Structured literacy focuses on teaching phonemic and phonological awareness, among other skills like encoding and comprehension.

Teach Academic English

But students need more than vocabulary to become successful readers. Regular formative assessment is important, especially in supporting ELLs, who now make up almost 10 percent of K-12 students in the United States. In kindergarten and first grade, check in regularly to assess students' understanding of the alphabet and ability to sound out words. For second through fifth graders, look for their ability to read accurately, with expression, and on pace. Walking around the room while students read in pairs can be an easy way to assess students; you can ask pairs to discuss what they read to assess their comprehension in real time.

Give Students Choice in the Books They Read

Allowing students to choose what they read and offering choices that reflect their experiences increases their engagement. A kid may have no desire to read The Boxcar Children but be eager to get her hands on Hansel & Gretel & Zombies: A Graphic Novel once she gets home. Giving students choice doesn't mean lowering your expectations. Yes, kids may choose books that don't challenge them, but you can manage that. Bring in options that are rigorous and also meet their interests, or rotate between choice books and whole-class reading.

When it comes to ensuring that your bookshelves are stocked with stories that will interest your students, having a diverse classroom library matters. Asking your students what books they want to read and what categories they are interested in is a good place to start, suggests Meredith Kimi Lewis, a K-5 program specialist for Seattle Public Schools.

Have Students Read the Same Text Multiple Times, in Multiple Modalities

Fluency-oriented reading instruction (FORI)-when students read the same text multiple times over the course of a week as a class, in pairs, and alone, for example-significantly improved word pronunciation and reading comprehension for a diverse group of second graders, according to a 2010 study.

And at New York-based Concourse Village Elementary School, composed of a predominantly Latinx and black student population in the poorest congressional district in the nation, a schoolwide, cross-discipline reading approach that emphasizes repeated exposure to the same text has the school outscoring the citywide average by as many as 40 points for the English state exam. Their five-step reading strategy -one of several approaches in the school-also emphasizes repeated access to the same text in different modalities. Students echo and choral read the same text every day over the span of a week, and each day they focus on honing a different skill: identifying the main point, annotating, identifying key details, analyzing the author's craft, and drawing conclusions.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
6 Elementary Reading Strategies That Really Work

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Strategies like choral reading and ear reading improve students' reading fluency, expand their vocabulary, and increase their confidence.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Our library provides teachers with effective, research-based classroom strategies to help build and strengthen literacy skills in print awareness, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The process of learning to write begins very early for many children. The oral and written language experiences children have at home, day care, preschool, and kindergarten contribute to their developing ability to communicate in writing.

Pre-kindergarten

Adults in daycare settings and preschools can promote the development of writing skills by offering informal opportunities for children to observe, explore, and experiment with writing. When children observe adults writing in order to accomplish real tasks, they learn the value and function of writing.

Caregivers can involve the children in writing brief notes to parents or listing the foods that are to be purchased for the next day's snack time. It's a good idea to have a box of writing tools and materials available for children to use when they want to engage in independent writing. The materials can be arranged on a special table that is set aside just for writing.

Kindergarten

Informal writing opportunities continue in kindergarten. Begin formal and organized opportunities for students to engage in writing. For example, create an "office center" in the classroom and set aside a special time when children are allowed to work in the center. The office center should contain everything students need to scribble, design signs, send notes, record telephone numbers, or write stories.

Although many kindergartners can recognize some letters, words, and phrases, they may revert to drawing or scribbling when encouraged to write a story. Accept this as a valuable attempt at writing. "Invented" or "phonetic" spelling is when a young child writes a word the way that it sounds without concern for spelling the word correctly in the conventional sense.

In the course of the school year, some kindergartners will experiment with invented spelling and begin to move closer to "standard" spelling. Treat such development as part of the natural process of emerging literacy. Attempts to use emerging skills should be warmly supported.

First grade

Throughout first grade most students will still use some invented spellings, especially for longer or more difficult words. Their attempts should be encouraged, supported, and then followed by instruction. Students should also be taught rules for punctuation and capitalization, beginning with the most common rules appropriate to the grade.

By the end of first grade, students should be able to use ending punctuation (period, question mark, exclamation point) correctly, as well as consistently capitalize the first word of a sentence, names, and the word I. As students' writing ability develops, you can help them to develop their skills further. For example, students may need help with word choice so that their writing becomes powerful and interesting enough to grab and hold a reader's attention.

Because beginning writers have so many areas of need that they could potentially work on, it can be helpful to identify two or three areas that will make the most difference in an individual student's writing and then work on those first, before moving on to other areas.

For example, consider a beginning first-grader whose writing is very difficult to understand because words are run together and incorrectly spelled. This student might benefit from an initial focus on putting spaces between words, learning to spell a small set of common irregular words, and improving phonetic spelling. When those skills have been learned, instruction would move on to the next set of skills that would benefit the student's writing the most, such as including ending punctuation and increasing productivity.

Second and third grade

At these grade levels, most students have developed sufficient basic writing skills so that they can produce somewhat longer pieces of writing (more than a few sentences), although continued instruction in spelling and other basic writing skills will remain important.

At these grade levels, students can learn more about how to organize a piece of writing (e.g., a narrative typically has a setting, characters, and a plot line with a problem and a resolution). They also can begin to apply writing processes such as planning, revising, and editing their important pieces of writing, although they will typically need considerable support from their teachers in using these processes.

Poor writers at these grade levels may be struggling with difficulties in spelling, handwriting, and other basic writing skills that interfere with their abilities to write. At the second and especially third grade levels, teaching children how to write good sentences through sentence combining activities can also be very effective. Please see further discussion of sentence combining below.

The six traits model

A free resource that is available to teachers is Northwest Regional Lab's (NWRL) 6 Trait Writing framework. The 6 Trait Writing framework is a tool used by teachers to help students pinpoint areas of strengths and weaknesses. The traits included in the framework are:

To help a student's development as a writer, focus instruction on each area.

NOTE: The framework can be used by teachers of students in any grade, but only certain traits would be included based on the age or ability level of students. For example, in a kindergarten classroom, it would be appropriate to focus on the first trait, "ideas/content," in a writing lesson. A first grade teacher would instruct on some traits, but not others. A second grade teacher could include all six traits as part of writing instruction over the course of the school year. Examples of how the traits are used appear below:

Ideas/content

Writers should draw on their experience and prior knowledge. The paper should be interesting and hold the reader's attention all the way through. The piece of writing should contain details that support the writer's topic.

Voice

Voice gives a sense of the writer's personality and style. Over time, a teacher should get the sense of "this is Johnny's paper," because Johnny's voice is different from other students. Voice conveys feelings and emotions. The language should bring the topic to life for the reader. The voice should be appropriate for the topic, purpose, and audience of the paper.

Sentence fluency

Sentence fluency effects the readability of the paper. Do the sentences flow from one to the next? The writing should sound natural - the way someone might talk. The sentences should have different beginnings, not all starting with then. The paper should have complete sentences, not fragments.

Organization

Organization is the structure of the paper. The paper should follow a logical sequence. There should be an inviting introduction that "hooks" the reader. The body should give supporting details to the paper's topic. The ending should tie everything together.

Word choice

Word choice allows the reader to form a mental picture as a result of the words used by the writer. Thus, words should be illustrative and powerful. The use of action verbs may be used to show the reader what is happening. The adjectives should be as descriptive as possible. Unique phrases or words may catch the reader's eye.

Writing conventions

Conventions consists of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and paragraphing. Conventions enhance the readability of the paper. Spelling, capitalization, and punctuation should be checked, revised, and corrected as necessary throughout the "draft"process. Paragraphing should reinforce organization. Use your districts writing standards to determine the standards that your students will be responsible for mastering over the course of the school year (e.g. contractions, paragraphing, etc.). Some of these concepts may not be appropriate for all grade levels.

Understanding the traits listed above will enable you to help your students become good writers.

Explicitly teach the mechanics of writing

Writing is a combination of skills and higher order thinking. For students to become good writers, the skills must be taught systematically and explicitly. This includes teaching sentence structure (independent clauses, dependent clauses, and phrases).

For example, teaching the sentence hierarchy to mastery enables students to use a variety of sentence structures:
Students can experiment with moving elements around in sentences. For example, once students have learned the Noun + Verb + Where Phrase pattern (e.g., "The pioneers set camp next to a bend in the Mississippi River."), they can play with moving the "where" phrase to the beginning of the sentence ("Next to a bend in the Mississippi River, the pioneers set camp.").
- C. Haynes and T. Jennings, 2012

Rules of thumb for budding writers

As part of the re-read checklist, include helpful rules of thumb for budding writers such as:
Stop run-on sentences:

No sentence can contain more than two of the following words: and, but, so, then.

No sentence can contain more than 22 words.

Stop fragments:

Underline the subject.

Circle the verb.

Stop unclear pronoun references:

Use the noun or proper noun in every other sentence.

If there are multiple male or female characters, or multiple things, name the nouns in every sentence. Or reorganize the sentences to refer to only one subject at a time.

Teach careful, thoughtful word choice strategies:

Preview vocabulary words that should be included in the writing.

Teach subtle differences between words (e.g., tell or inform).

Teach slang and the standard English equivalent (That is way more expensive. That is far more expensive.).

When in doubt, cut it out:

Teach students to use common, bland adjectives (e.g., nice, good) sparingly, in favor of more precise descriptive words (e.g., thoughtful, caring, gentle).

Identify "filler" words that can be removed (e.g., very, fun, big, so, then).

For early writers, this scaffolding is helpful. As writing becomes more complex, students learn how to manage run-on sentences and fragments. They no longer need to adhere to these rules.
Studies have shown that teaching grammar in isolation yields poor results, but grammar applied to the act of writing has a positive effect.
- W. Van Cleve, 2012

The components of grammar and syntax can be taught explicitly but should be tied immediately to writing assignments. Teaching the mechanics of writing does not need to be tedious; as foundational skills, they must be taught systematically and explicitly.

Instruction in sentence combining

Sentence combining is a technique for teaching students how to write grammatically correct, varied sentences. This approach has been found much more effective in improving students' writing than traditional grammar instruction (e.g., sentence diagramming).

In sentence combining activities, students are taught to combine short, simple sentences into more sophisticated ones. They may also be taught to correct sentence fragments and to simplify unnecessarily long, complex sentences into two or three shorter sentences.

Generally this type of instruction would begin with specific practice sentences, involving kernel sentences that teachers give to students.
Consider the three kernel sentences below:

The dog was huge.

The dog was black.

The dog barked furiously at the intruder.

These three sentences could be combined equally well as either:
The huge black dog barked furiously at the intruder.
or
The dog, which was huge and black, barked furiously at the intruder.
However, the teacher would not want to accept this from students: The dog barked furiously at the intruder it was huge and it was black - because that is a run-on sentence.

Also, the teacher would not accept this: The huge dog barked furiously at the intruder - because that omits one of the key ideas in the kernel sentences (i.e., the dog was black).
Here is another example:

1. Mother made pot roast for dinner.

2. The pot roast was delicious.

3. Unfortunately, no one was hungry.

These sentences could be effectively combined as: Mother made a delicious pot roast for dinner, but unfortunately, no one was hungry - as well as in several other equally effective ways.

In sentence combining activities, teachers begin by modeling for students how to combine kernel sentences, using several examples of different sets of kernel sentences, usually with two or three sentences in each set. Then the students try practice activities with guidance from the teacher, followed by more independent practice activities.

After children are successful with these controlled practice opportunities, the final step would be for them to apply sentence combining to their own written work, as part of the revision and editing process. Students' ability to apply sentence combining to their own writing is the ultimate point of sentence combining instruction.

It should be emphasized to students that the goal is for them to use grammatically correct and varied sentences, as opposed to sentences of one type only. A piece of writing composed only of short simple sentences sounds dull, but one with too many long, complex sentences may be difficult to understand.

Teach text components separately

Teach students how to retell the text, in sequence. Retelling as a skill supports finding supporting details from which examples are drawn.

Teach students how to organize supporting details in different configurations. For example, when comparing and contrasting, a student could write how things are the same and different back to back. Or a student could put similarities in one paragraph and differences in another. Sticky notes and index cards are especially helpful in these exercises.

Teach how to summarize the text. Summarizing requires students to compress and identify what is important. The summary may be synthesized information from multiple sources. Summarizing supports writing topic sentences, conclusions, persuasive writing, and other writing requirements.

Teach how to state the gist of the text. Like a summary, it may be synthesized information from multiple sources. Unlike the summary, the gist is the main idea in its most compressed form. Try assigning a word limit, longer at first and then fewer words. For example, tell me the gist of Cinderella in 30 words, now in 20 words, now in 17 words. The gist is the topic sentence.

The writing process in detail

At every grade, teach the writing process. The process remains the same but becomes more sophisticated as students grow older. By following the same process, students practice until it becomes automatic.

The writing process steps include:

1. Brainstorming

This step is an oral and written rehearsal of ideas. The teacher explicitly teaches students to organize their thoughts before the student writes.

Preview the relevant vocabulary and ensure it is used during brainstorming. This should include academic vocabulary (e.g., illustrate, determine, evaluate) and content area words (characters, setting, velocity). Explicitly state that students must use these words when answering questions orally and when writing. Demonstrate how these words and phrases are used (syntactic instruction) both orally and in writing. For example, in English we "determine whether (or not) to ____"; we don't "determine of" or "determine for." This explicit instruction followed by oral practice will produce better writing results.

Ask appropriate questions to direct the students toward your goal for the task. When asking and answering, ensure students use nouns - not pronouns - when speaking. This ensures students understand that in writing, sentences cannot be littered with "it," "he," and "she." Teach students to say what and who they are talking about, so that listeners and readers can follow their meaning.

Accept any relevant contribution from the students in order to activate prior knowledge and creativity. Establish a safe environment. Ideas that may be pertinent later, or are tangential, can go on a sticky note and put in a parking lot. Parking lot ideas must be revisited before wrapping up brainstorming.

Provide cues either directly (giving information from the text) or indirectly (giving additional information about the text) so that students are free to share their knowledge, guess, predict, or think creatively.

Understand and expect that each student's ideas are equivalent to their ability level.

Use a board to write down all of the student's ideas so that a discussion can be generated. When a visual cue is used, students are able to see and make connections between ideas.

Use metacognitive strategies at this stage of the writing process. Demonstrate how students can ask themselves key questions. For example, have I addressed the assignment? Do all my ideas belong? Do any ideas not belong? What is the most important point? Which thoughts are related and how? What is the gist (summary)?

Gradually relinquish responsibility for leading brainstorming. Get the students to brainstorm independently within an established time limit. Circulate and provide support.

2. Organizing information for a rough draft

Explicitly teach how to retell the key details from text. This can be practiced as an isolated skill and then incorporated into writing assignments.

Explicitly teach how to express the gist (main idea or synthesized information). This can be practiced as an isolated skill and then incorporated into writing assignments. The gist becomes the topic sentence and conclusion.

Use graphic organizers, maps, index cards, or sticky notes to arrange information formally by illustrating particular text structures or concepts.

Use a two-column note-taking format to identify main ideas and details while paraphrasing the information in the students' own words.

Use outlining activities to emphasize paragraph structure or frames. Paragraph frames provide contextual cues that encourage students to provide the correct answer. Employ the following steps when teaching outlining using paragraph frames:

1. Teach students the basics of paragraph structure using topic sentences, details, and concluding sentences.

2. Start using a basic level paragraph such as the sequential paragraph. Once this is mastered, move on to the other types of paragraph frames, such as enumeration, comparison, contrast, cause, effect, opinion, and descriptive.

3. Have students start to use the skill of elaborating on thoughts within the basic paragraph frames using questions of what, where, when, why, and how.

Summarize using information gathered from all the tools described above - graphic organizers, outlines, two column note-taking, or paragraph frames.

3. Drafting

Drafting is the ability to create the story from graphic organizers or outlines or paragraph frames. Suggestions for drafting paragraphs are as follows:

Write in complete sentences during the organizing stage. The students then copy the sentences into their rough drafts.

For students using notes, the teacher should review good sentence structure before the students write their thoughts into their rough draft.

Students using a map should first order and sequence their thoughts, put those thoughts into sentences, and put those sentences into their rough draft.

Students can do multi-paragraph writing by linking single paragraph frames together.

4. Proofreading

Proofreading is the ability to apply critical contemplation to what has been written, so the students take themselves away from a personal attachment of the written document and become objective observers.

5. Final draft

Publishing - or final draft - is the last step in the writing process, in which the writer finalizes his/her thoughts, checks that all steps have been completed, and recopies or rewrites the written piece to satisfaction. If all of the steps have taken place successfully, the written piece is completed.

From Our Library: Writing Strategies

What do I do with struggling writers?

Here are some specific suggestions for helping students who struggle in writing. Many of these suggestions can also help all children develop further as writers:

Explicitly teach the specific writing skill(s) in which the student is weak (e.g., spelling and other mechanics; word choice; organization). This obviously will vary for different children, as well as by grade level. However, within a grade, many types of writing difficulties do tend to recur across children. For example, problems with organization of writing are common and could be addressed through a whole-class or small-group lesson on organizational aids such as graphic organizers, outlines, and maps.

Assessment of children's writing is important for helping to determine individual children's needs. In evaluating children's writing, teachers should be aware of "presentation effects," the tendency for teachers and other evaluators of writing to put undue emphasis on mechanical errors in their evaluations. Presentation effects can lead teachers to overlook strengths in the writing of children whose basic writing skills are weak, such as strengths in the quality of ideas. The use of rubrics in assessment can be helpful in ensuring that important components of writing are evaluated fairly, and rubrics are also very useful to children in conveying clear expectations for different writing assignments.

Emphasize to children the importance of getting their thoughts down on paper before worrying about mechanics of writing. Mechanics of writing are important, but many poor writers tend to over-focus on mechanics, which hampers their ability to think about other important aspects of writing such as quality and elaboration of ideas. Mechanics can also sometimes keep them from even getting started on a piece of writing.

Use technology. Technological aids such as computers, iPads, and various kinds of writing software can be a tremendous help to children, especially to those with specific disabilities that involve writing. Although technology certainly does not eliminate the need to teach writing directly, it can make the process of writing, as well as of revision and editing, much less burdensome.

Allow choices in writing whenever possible. Of course, some prescribed writing assignments will be part of most school curricula, but if children have choices of writing topics some of the time, this can greatly enhance their motivation to write.

Encourage listening and responding to read alouds, as well as other reading-writing connections. For example, students can be encouraged to use new vocabulary words they have learned in reading as part of their writing; they can use writing to summarize a story that they have read (or heard).

Allow students who have difficulty with writing to first respond by art (drawing their favorite part or character) or drama (rehearsing the story). This extra time allows writers to rehearse their ideas before putting them on paper.

Provide time for students to talk about their writing with each other, as well as with the teacher. Students should be taught to provide constructive feedback to each other that will help each student to improve his or her work. Feedback also should always recognize what is positive in other students' work.

For students in second grade and beyond, follow the writing process closely. Teach the process to mastery and encourage students to gradually take responsibility for each step. Provide close supports and then gradually remove the scaffolding. Start at the students' current skill level. Do not assume students have skills until those skills are demonstrated.

Most important, celebrate writing. All students need to feel that their work is valued. After a student has gone through the process of brainstorming, rough draft, editing, revising, and final draft, celebrate their written work! Celebrations could include inviting another class to hear the stories, hanging papers in the hallway, or allowing the struggling student to read their work to a special staff person of their choice.

Adapted from: Encouraging Young Children's Writing, published by the Eric Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education, Urbana IL Also from: C. L. Five, M. Dionsio. 1999. Teaching Struggling Readers and Writers. The National Council of Teachers of English
References

Berninger, V.W., Abbott, R.D., Jones, J., Gould, L., Anderson-Youngstrom, M., Shimada, S., et al. (2006). Early development of language by hand: Composing, reading, listening, and speaking connections; three letter-writing modes; and fast mapping in spelling. Developmental Neuropsycholog y, 29, 61-92.

Graham, S., & Hebert, M. A. (2010). Writing to read: Evidence for how writing can improve reading. A Carnegie Corporation Time to Act Report. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education.

Graham, S., McArthur, C.A., & Fitzgerald, J. (Eds.). (2007). Best practices in writing instruction. New York, NY: Guilford.

Haynes, C. & Jennings, T. (2012). Listening and speaking: Essential Ingredients for teaching struggling writers. In L. Moats, K. Dakin, & R. Malatesha Joshi (Eds.) Expert Perspectives on Interventions for Reading: A Collection of Best-Practice Articles from the International Dyslexia Association. Baltimore, MD: International Dyslexia Association.

Van Cleve, W. (2012). Writing matters: Developing sentence skills in students of all ages. Greenville, SC: W.V.C.ED.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The process of learning to write begins very early for many children. The oral and written language experiences children have at home, day care, preschool, and kindergarten contribute to their developing ability to communicate in writing. Pre-kindergarten Adults in daycare settings and preschools can promote the development of writing skills by offering informal opportunities for children to observe, explore, and experiment with writing.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Teach Spelling | 10 Creative and Fun Ways I Teach Spelling in Our Homeschool

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Party In The Jungle | Fun Phonemic Awareness Song | Jack Hartmann

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What Letter Is It? | Random Order | Phonics Song for Kids | Phonemic Awareness | Jack Hartmann

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Fry Sight Word Review | 101-125 | Jack Hartmann

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Fry Sight Word Review | 51-75 | Jack Hartmann

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Fry Sight Word Review | 26-50 | Jack Hartmann

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Fry Sight Word Review | 1-25 | Jack Hartmann

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Interactive Lesson: Nonfiction Text Features

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Reading Worksheets, Spelling, Grammar, Comprehension, Lesson Plans

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Nonfiction Text Features Poster:

(Click on Get Worksheet below) What are text features? All types of publishing use graphic and organizational features to increase comprehension, separate content, and add visual interest to the text. These enhancements are particularly present in nonfiction works. Knowing how each of these features work helps students locate information quickly and better understand what they are reading.

For example, if a student is reading about ancient Rome, a detailed map can be very helpful. Not only will it provide clarification, but some students are more visual and this type of text feature can help them to comprehend, and put into context, what they are reading.

The PDF below includes 20 printable PDFs (all in one file) that you may use to place on the bulletin board, covert to PowerPoint, or hand out to students. The following text feature elements are included:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Nonfiction Text Features | Free, Printable Posters for Classrooms

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
(Click on Get Worksheet below) What are text features? All types of publishing use graphic and organizational features to increase comprehension, separate content, and add visual interest to the text. These enhancements are particularly present in nonfiction works. Knowing how each of these features work helps students locate information quickly and better understand what they are reading.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
From videos to haiku to poetry slams, there something to pique every student’s interest.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
*This post contains affiliate links. Please read my full disclosure policy for more information.

<A HREF="http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?rt=tf_cw&#038;ServiceVersion=20070822&#038;MarketPlace=US&#038;ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fthireamam-20%2F8010%2Fb5be50bf-828b-4f67-86fc-8e8d85d0c9f9&#038;Operation=NoScript">Amazon.com Widgets</A>

What are Text Features?

Text features are to non-fiction what story elements are to fiction. Text features help the reader make sense of what they are reading and are the building blocks for text structure (see below). So what exactly are non-fiction text features?

Text Features and Comprehension

Text features go hand-in-hand with comprehension. If the author wants a reader to understand where a country is in the world, then providing a map helps the reader visualize and understand the importance of that country's location. If the anatomy of an animal is vitally important to understanding a text, a detailed photograph with labels gives the reader the support he needs to comprehend the text.

Text features also help readers determine what is important to the text and to them. Without a table of contents or an index, readers can spend wasted time flipping through the book to find the information they need. Special print helps draw the attention of the reader to important or key words and phrases.

In my experience, readers of all ages, especially struggling readers tend to skip over many of the text features provided within a text. To help readers understand their importance, take some time before reading to look through the photographs/illustrations, charts, graphs, or maps and talk about what you notice. Make some predictions about what they'll learn or start a list of questions they have based off of the text features.

Sometimes, it's even fun to make a point to those readers who like to skip over the text features by retyping the text with no features and asking them to read the text without them first. Once they do that, discuss how difficult comprehension was. Then, give them the original text and help them to see the difference it makes in understanding.

Find our free Nonfiction Text Features Chart!

Some Common Text Features within Non-Fiction

Captions: Help you better understand a picture or photograph

Comparisons: These sentences help you to picture something {Example: A whale shark is a little bit bigger than a school bus.}

Glossary: Helps you define words that are in the book

Graphics: Charts, graphs, or cutaways are used to help you understand what the author is trying to tell you

Illustrations/Photographs: Help you to know exactly what something looks like

Index: This is an alphabetical list of ideas that are in the book. It tells you what page the idea is on.

Labels: These help you identify a picture or a photograph and its parts

Maps: help you to understand where places are in the world

Special Print: When a word is bold, in italics, or underlined, it is an word for you to know

Subtitles: These headings help you to know what the next section will be about

Table of Contents: Helps you identify key topics in the book in the order they are presented

What is Text Structure?

Simply put, text structure is how the author organizes the information within the text.

Why do text structures matter to readers?

When readers what kind of structure to expect, it helps them connect to and remember what they've read better.

It gives readers clues as to what is most important in the text.

It helps readers summarize the text. For example, if we're summarizing a text that has a sequence/time order structure, we want to make sure we summarize in the same structure. (It wouldn't make sense to tell an autobiography out of order.)

Examples of Non-Fiction Text Structure

While there are differences of opinion on the exact amount and names of different kinds of text structure, these are the 5 main ones I teach.

You can read more about each one on day 3 and day 4 of our Teaching Text Structure to Readers series.
1. Problem/Solution
The author will introduce a problem and tell us how the problem could be fixed. There may be one solution to fix the problem or several different solutions mentioned. Real life example: Advertisements in magazines for products (problem-pain; solution-Tylenol)
2. Cause and Effect
The author describes something that has happened which has had an effect on or caused something else to happen. It could be a good effect or a bad effect. There may be more than one cause and there may also be more than one effect. (Many times, problem/solution and cause and effect seem like "cousins" because they can be together.) Real life example: A newspaper article about a volcano eruption which had an effect on tourism
3. Compare/Contrast
The author's purpose is to tell you how two things are the same and how they are different by comparing them.Real life example: A bargain hunter writing on her blog about buying store-brand items and how it compares with buying name-brand items.
4. Description/List
Although this is a very common text structure, I think it's one of the trickiest because the author throws a lot of information at the reader (or lists facts) about a certain subject. It's up to the reader to determine what he thinks is important and sometimes even interesting enough to remember.Real life example: A soccer coach's letter describing to parents exactly what kind of cleats to buy for their kids.
5. Time Order/Sequence
Texts are written in an order or timeline format. Real life examples: recipes, directions, events in history

Note: Sometimes the text structure isn't so easy to distinguish. For example, the structure of the text as a whole may be Description/List (maybe about Crocodilians), but the author may devote a chapter to Compare/Contrast (Alligators vs. Crocodiles). We must be explicit about this with students.

More Text Structure Resources:

Enjoy teaching!
~Becky

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Non-Fiction Text Features and Text Structure

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This post contains affiliate links. Please read my full disclosure policy for more information. Amazon.com Widgets What are Text Features? Text features are to non-fiction what story elements are to fiction. Text features help the reader make sense of what they are reading and are the building blocks for text structure (see ...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Exploring Literature Genres in the Elementary Classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
EXPOSURE TO TEXTS FROM A WIDE VARIETY OF GENRES OPENS UP NEW WORLDS TO READERS! ENCOURAGE YOUR STUDENTS TO EXPAND THEIR READING HABITS, AS WELL AS RECOGNIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF EACH GENRE, WITH THESE PRACTICAL TIPS YOU CAN IMPLEMENT TODAY! Often, students will find one

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Scholastic Teaching Tools | Resources for Teachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Explore Scholastic Teaching Tools for teaching resources, printables, book lists, and more. Enhance your classroom experience with expert advice!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When students have gained sufficient experience in recognizing these basic story elements, they can then begin work on the more advanced story elements, regardless of their age.

Let's take a brief look at four of these more advanced story elements.

1. Point of View: To identify the POV in a story, students must ask "who is telling the story?" Is it a first, third, or even second (rare!) person narrator? Are they omniscient or limited in their perspective? Does the perspective shift between different characters?

2. Tone: A writing's tone is established through word choices, use of literary devices, grammar, rhythm, and rhyme etc. Tone is the overall 'flavour' of the story that is created by using all of these techniques combined. It is the attitude the writer displays towards their subject or theme.

3. Style: Related to tone in many regards, style is the individual author's unique voice and it is again evidenced in their word choices, plot patterns, sentence structures etc. The writer's personal style is a strong contributor to a writing's tone.

4. Mood: This is about the effect the writer creates in the reader and how they evoke it through their use of language.

These more advanced elements are a little more difficult to define than those on the basic list and therefore can be confusing for students who are new to them. All these elements pertain to how words are used; but style also pertains to the purpose of the text, tone to the author's attitude to the subject, with mood being concerned with the reader's attitude to the subject.

Why Are Story Elements Important?
There are many reasons students need to be well-versed in identifying the elements of a story, not least of which is the deeper levels of comprehension and enhanced appreciation this brings. Understanding how a story is organized is necessary for students to access the highest levels of comprehension of that story. Understanding how a story is organized also provides students with a frame of reference that greatly assists with recall. Often important, especially where exams are concerned, the implications here for subjects outside the English classroom are obvious too.

Being familiar with the various elements that combine together in good storytelling also helps students in their own writing. It helps students to organise their thoughts and to competently weave together the various threads of their own stories. No small feat for an experienced writer, let alone a novice!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teaching Story Elements - Literacy Ideas

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When students have gained sufficient experience in recognizing these basic story elements, they can then begin work on the more advanced story elements, regardless of their age. Let's take a brief look at four of these more advanced story elements. Point of View: To identify the POV in a story, students must ask "who is telling the story?"

# data[].attributes.headline
Phonics and Phonemic Awareness Resources

# data[].attributes.subject
Phonics and Phonemic Awareness Resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We gathered together an extensive collection of resources about reading, including topical research briefs and reports, descriptions of nonprofit, state and federal literacy organizations, and our free reading guides for parents and educators.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Apps are fun and motivating for kids! Let Reading Rockets help you find the very best educational apps that provide practice with essential skills in print awareness, phonics, spelling, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing. We've also included apps for children with dyslexia, ADHD, and autism spectrum disorder that support organization and goal-setting, language and communication, and emotional regulation.

Find more recommendations, from the experts at Common Sense Education: Apps and Websites to Build Literacy Skills: Top Picks.

Recommended Apps by Topic

Apps that give kids tools for communicating with others, through simple pictures, picture-based stories, and text-to-speech. (Selected especially for children with autism or Aspergers.)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Apps are fun and motivating for kids! Let Reading Rockets help you find the very best educational apps that provide practice with essential skills in print awareness, phonics, spelling, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing. We've also included apps for children with dyslexia, ADHD, and autism spectrum disorder that support organization and goal-setting, language and communication, and emotional regulation.

# data[].attributes.headline
Children's BOOK DAY! Bilingual resources

# data[].attributes.subject
Children's BOOK DAY! Bilingual resources

# data[].attributes.body
April 30th & EVERYDAY

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Show your support on social media.
Use#ChildrensDayBookDay to connect.

Click to download a graphic for your social channels:
Twitter share

Facebook share

Instagram share

Please share: 25th Anniversary Q & A with Pat Mora

ALSC 2021 Materials
Find graphics, booklists and more on the ALSC's Children's Day, Book Day site.

We encourage libraries, schools, universities, literacy organizations, and all who wish to promote Día to share these videos on social media, showcase them on your website, and share them with patrons, students and families. The spots were created by Día Dynamos Christy Vasquez, a retired librarian and Thom Eberhardt, a retired screenwriter. As Sky City Productions, they created and filmed these spots to assist in promoting Día nationally. How generous of them to donate their creative talents for all of us to share!

How to share these videos: Click the central arrow to start playing the video, and then click on the YouTube video in the lower right. The video will open up on our YouTube channel. Beneath the video, you can:

Click "Share" to get a direct link you can copy and paste into an email or web page.

Click "Embed" to copy code that you can paste into a website that will embed the video on that site (like we have done on this page.)

Click "Email" to have YouTube send the video to your recipient(s).

Public Service Announcements

ALSC invited Pat to record these Día Public Service Announcements. We hope you'll share them to encourage families to participate in your Día celebrations! These are downloadable, broadcast-quality audio mp3 files. To download, right-click on the PSA, select "save link as," choose computer file location and click "save." You can find scripts for these PSA's on the ALSC Día site.

Association of Library Service to Children (ALSC)

Literacy & Teaching Organizations and Websites

State and Regional Library Associations

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Children's Day, Book Day Resources to Share Show your support on social media. Use #ChildrensDayBookDay to connect. Click to download a graphic for your social channels: Twitter share Facebook share Instagram share Please share: 25th Anniversary Q & A with ... Continue reading →

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Children's Literature Assembly (CLA) of the National Council of Teachers of English is a professional community of children's literature enthusiasts who advocate the centrality of literature in children's academic and personal lives.

Join CLA

Join/Renew online or via mail

We offer individual memberships, student memberships and faculty/staff bundled memberships. For individual members, we also offer an auto-renewing option.

You can make a personal donation or a donation in honor of someone else.

The CLA Endowment Fund supports original research on children's literature and the dissemination of CLA's Notable Books for the Language Arts.

-->Donate to CLA's Endowment Fund

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Children's Literature Assembly (CLA) of the National Council of Teachers of English is a professional community of children's literature enthusiasts who advocate the centrality of literature in children's academic and personal lives. Join/Renew online or via mail We offer individual memberships, student memberships and faculty/staff bundled memberships.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Welcome to PBS Books Storytime!

"PBS Books Storytime" is a resource developed by the PBS Books channel to offer author read-aloud stories and book features for educators, libraries and families.

The segments feature children's book authors and others in "Read-Aloud" segments and/or video features on new and best-loved children's books.

Stories will be posted each day, so follow PBS Books on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and look for the hashtag #PBSBooksStorytime!

Watch this space and our social media messages for new and fun stories!

PBS Books is also aggregating a list of other credible book-related resources for parents, caregivers, librarians, and teachers, which you'll find below.

Author Videos

Resources

Looking for more virtual learning opportunities for your kids while they're away from school? Here's a list of great resources you can use to keep kids engaged:

Read Aloud Permissions

Are you an educator or librarian who wants to do a virtual read aloud to your kiddos? Below is a list of publishers who has given temporary permissions to create and post read aloud videos, with links to their specific guidelines. Most permissions end on June 30, 2020, so read the fine print. We'd love if you tagged PBS Books too!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Welcome to PBS Books Storytime! "PBS Books Storytime" is a resource developed by the PBS Books channel to offer author read-aloud stories and book features for educators, libraries and families. The segments feature children's book authors and others in "Read-Aloud" segments and/or video features on new and best-loved children's books.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Donate to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"Goodnight With Dolly" features Dolly Parton reading a series of Imagination Library books all carefully chosen for their appropriate content at this moment in time. Dolly welcomes the viewers and introduces the title, author and illustrator. Snuggled in bed with her Imagination Library book, Dolly shares stories that are just right for this moment in time. The readings are a mixture of Dolly and the interior pages of the books. The books include "There's a Hole in the Log on the Bottom of the Lake" by Loren Long, "Llama Llama Red Pajama" by Anna Dewdney, "I Am a Rainbow" by Dolly Parton, "Pass It On" by Sophy Henn, "Stand Tall Molly Lou Mellon" by Patty Lovell, "Violet the Pilot" by Steve Breen, "Max & The Tag-Along Moon" by Floyd Cooper, "Last Stop on Market Street" by Matt de la Peña, "Coat of Many Colors" by Dolly Parton, and of course, "The Little Engine That Could" by Watty Piper.

The series is a personal gift from Dolly to all families. Free of charge but not free from obligation as the message will be to pass on the love and keep hope alive because we are all Together, You and I.

"This is something I have been wanting to do for quite a while, but the timing never felt quite right. I think it is pretty clear that now is the time to share a story and to share some love. It is an honor for me to share the incredible talent of these authors and illustrators. They make us smile, they make us laugh and they make us think." - Dolly Parton

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"Goodnight With Dolly" features Dolly Parton reading a series of Imagination Library books all carefully chosen for their appropriate content at this moment in time. Dolly welcomes the viewers and introduces the title, author and illustrator. Snuggled in bed with her Imagination Library book, Dolly shares stories that are just right for this moment in time.

# data[].attributes.body
Free online read alouds

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The SAG-AFTRA Foundation's Daytime Emmy-nominated, Storyline Online, features celebrated actors reading children's books to inspire a love of reading in millions of children worldwide.

# data[].attributes.body
Free online game

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The game has been funded by the Usborne Foundation, a charity set up to support initiatives to develop early literacy.

Our mission is to help as many children learn to read as possible. The computer version is 100% free and we put profits from the app back into the Usborne Foundation, to continue to create new and exciting ways for children to learn.

The charity was founded by Peter Usborne MBE and his children, Nicola and Martin, one of the world's leading children's book publishing companies and Children's Publisher of the Year 2012. He was previously one of the founders of the magazine Private Eye.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The game has been funded by the Usborne Foundation, a charity set up to support initiatives to develop early literacy. Our mission is to help as many children learn to read as possible. The computer version is 100% free and we put profits from the app back into the Usborne Foundation, to continue to create new and exciting ways for children to learn.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In my classroom, it is easy to find evidence that I value and teach the basics - it's all over the walls. I am not referring to commercially prepared charts or bulletin boards; rather, my students and I collaboratively build Word Walls as we learn and practice phonics, spelling, and language conventions in the context of authentic reading and writing activities. A Word Wall is an interactive, ongoing display (on a chart, bulletin board, or other exhibition medium) of words and/or parts of words, used to teach spelling, reading and writing strategies, letter-sound correspondence, and more. Word Walls are not simply dÃ©cor - they are useful works in progress, built over time as words are harvested from meaningful contexts. They provide support and references for children, and serve as a clear record of their language learning.

Here are some hot tips for making Word Walls really work in your classroom!

1. Make Them Memorable

Use favorite rhymes, poems, chants, songs, or stories as contexts for pulling key words for your Walls. For example, last year we enjoyed a version of our school song performed as rap. We lifted words from the song to add to our Chunking Wall. (A Chunking Wall helps students decode unknown words by analogy and promotes phonemic awareness.) While rereading the song chart, we used highlighters and word frames to call attention to these words.

Potential pitfall: Using arbitrary lists of words for key references. If the key words are "any old words," they are likely to be treated as such!

2. Make Them Useful

The more you use the Word Walls to spell high-frequency words during modeled writing, to generate correct spelling while writing aloud, or to decode a masked word in text, the more your students will use the Walls to do the same. Demonstrations and think-alouds take only seconds, and if done frequently, give you a lot of bang for your buck. ("Yes, I can read this word. I see /br/ like the beginning of Brendan's name, and /ast/ like our key word last; this word must be breakfast. It fits here and makes sense!")

Potential pitfall: Putting up the Word Wall at the beginning of the year, telling kids to use it, but failing to demonstrate how.

3. Make Them Practical

Incorporate Word Walls into your daily wordplay activities. Use Word Wall words you've already targeted, for making word ladders, word sorts, and word hunts. Such practice helps kids gain automaticity with these key references. Use key words as spelling words, too.

Potential pitfall: Doubling your workload by basing wordplay on arbitrary words. Don't treat your wordplay and Word Walls as separate parts of the literacy puzzle. They fit together naturally, helping you avoid overloading students with too many words at once.

4. Make Them Hands-On

Make your Walls interactive by attaching key words with Velcro strips or sticky tack. If this isn't possible, put pockets under your Wall at the children's eye level. Place copies of key words in the pockets. These techniques allow students to go to the Wall, remove a word, use it at their desks, and return it.

5. Make Them Space Efficient

If you lack adequate wall space or you want your Walls to be more "up close and personal," use three-panel display boards (like those employed in science experiments during fairs) or foam display boards (available at office supply stores). These freestanding materials don't require any wall space, and can be moved around the room and placed on tables for easy visibility. As a reading specialist, I simply fold one Word Wall down and put up another when a new student group arrives.

Potential pitfall: Failing to build a Wall with students because of presumed lack of space.

6. Make Them Your Way

There is no one right way to build a Word Wall. What to build, what key words to add, and when to add them all depend on what your students need. If you are teaching kindergarten and want to reinforce the alphabet, create a Name Wall that highlights first letters in students' names. Or build an ABC Wall, using key words from nursery rhymes. If your students commonly misspell words like they, said, and because, create a Words-We-Know Wall, featuring high frequency, irregularly spelled words. A Chunking Wall helps developing readers and writers learn to use spelling patterns to read and write new words. You can also combine these varied types of key words into one Word Wall; add new words each week and build them up over time. Organize your Walls in a way that is practical to students. Be creative and trust your observations.

Potential pitfall: Bogging yourself down by thinking, "I'm not doing it right." If your students are using the Word Wall to better their reading and writing skills, you're doing it right!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In my classroom, it is easy to find evidence that I value and teach the basics - it's all over the walls. I am not referring to commercially prepared charts or bulletin boards; rather, my students and I collaboratively build Word Walls as we learn and practice phonics, spelling, and language conventions in the context of authentic reading and writing activities.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Construct-a-Word provides a simple, engaging way for students to generate dozens of different words by first choosing an ending (for example -an, -ed, -at, -op) and then adding a beginning letter or blend. When a correct word is created, the word is stored in a Word Bank where students can read and review their words. For each ending, Construct-a-Word prompts students to create between 6 and 14 different possible words, adding an element of fun and discovery. It uses animation and sound to guide students through the steps of creating words, and employs prompts that are clear and easy to master. This interactive tool could be used individually or in small groups, either in one session or across multiple lessons.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Construct-a-Word provides a simple, engaging way for students to generate dozens of different words by first choosing an ending (for example -an, -ed, -at, -op) and then adding a beginning letter or blend. When a correct word is created, the word is stored in a Word Bank where students can read and review their words.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Learn to Read Systems for Kids | Reading & Writing Systems | LeapFrog

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get your child excited about a variety of subjects from counting, problem solving to learning to read with fun, replayable activities. Learn more about LeapStart and LeapReader today!

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.ixl.com/ela/kindergarten#vocabulary

# data[].attributes.body
Printable

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Printables @ A to Z's Downloads Shop

A to Z Teacher Stuff's Downloads Shop has thousands of printables to choose from.

Make Your Own Custom Printables

Create your own custom printable pages and worksheets using A to Z's tools:

Free Printables @ Pinterest

You can find more printables and worksheets below. These printables are being moved to printables.atoz.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A to Z Teacher Stuff Printable Pages and Worksheets

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A to Z Teacher Stuff's Downloads Shop has thousands of printables to choose from. Create your own custom printable pages and worksheets using A to Z's tools: You can find more printables and worksheets below. These printables are being moved to printables.atoz.

# data[].attributes.body
online

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Blachman, B. A., Ball, E. W., Black, R., & Tangel, D. M. (2000). Road to the code: A phonological awareness program for young children. Baltimore: Brookes.

Clay, M. (1993). Reading Recovery: A Guidebook for Teachers in Training. NH: Heinemann.

Elkonin, D. (1971). "Development of Speech". In A.V. Zaporozhets and D. B. Elkonin (Eds.). The Psychology of Preschool Children. Cambridge, MA: M.I.T. Press.

Ellis, E. (1997). How Now Brown Cow: Phoneme Awareness Activities.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (NIH Publication No. 00-4769). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Elkonin boxes build phonological awareness skills by segmenting words into individual sounds, or phonemes. To use Elkonin boxes, a child listens to a word and moves a token into a box for each sound or phoneme. In some cases different colored tokens may be used for consonants and vowels or just for each phoneme in the word.

# data[].attributes.body
Online video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Reading Is Fundamental is committed to a literate America by inspiring a passion for reading among all children, providing quality content to make an impact and engage communities. As the nation's largest children's literacy non-profit and charity, Reading Is Fundamental maximizes every contribution to ensure all children have the ability to read and succeed.

# data[].attributes.headline
                                CHILDREN'S RIGHT TO READ

# data[].attributes.subject
                                CHILDREN'S RIGHT TO READ

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.literacyworldwide.org/get-resources/childrens-rights-to-read