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Sarah's Teaching Snippets

K-2 Science of Reading Educational Resources

Found the Gold Freebie Hop

Did you all have a great St. Patrick's Day? Well, your luck has not run out yet. My friends over at A Spark of Inspiration are having a little freebie hop! Thank you to the wonderful Learning with Mrs. Leeby for sending you my way!   Today, I'm going to share with you a little part of my Spring Guided Reading pack for Kindergarten. I love using this with my beginning readers! The ... Read More about Found the Gold Freebie Hop

Opinion Writing Lesson Sample

One of the things that I miss most about classroom teaching is teaching writing. Writing was always such a challenge to teach for various reasons, but I always enjoyed it. It always seemed like I would get super inspired during a writing lesson. I loved to watch the growth of my little firsties as the year progressed. You could always plan a writing lesson, but it would always take a turn because ... Read More about Opinion Writing Lesson Sample

Firstie Friends Spring Giveaway!

Are you ready for spring? I'm so ready for spring! Spring may not be here yet officially, but we are gearing up for spring with a fun giveaway. Some of my favorite first grade bloggers friends are giving away their favorite spring goodies. You can win ALL of these with the rafflecopter and you can win MY pack by commenting on my blog. a Rafflecopter giveaway I'm giving away my ready ... Read More about Firstie Friends Spring Giveaway!

St. Patrick’s Day Activities

I am a big fan of St. Patrick's Day! I don't think you need to be Irish to love this holiday. ;) When I taught first grade, I loved having a little "treasure hunt" with my students. The kids would come in the classroom in the morning to a trail of green glitter. On the white board is the first clue. We spend the morning reading the clues and making inferences to figure out where the next clue is. ... Read More about St. Patrick’s Day Activities

No Worksheet Wednesday

I'm linking up again with my friend Miss Decarbo at Sugar and Spice for No Worksheet Wednesday. We are going back to the basics in our classrooms and promising to use no worksheets on Wednesdays. Every Wednesday you can link up over at The Primary Chalkboard. Here are a few things I did today: I work with a couple kindergarten kids who are still trying to learn the letters and sounds. ... Read More about No Worksheet Wednesday

Phonemic Awareness RTI Printables

I'm so excited! I'm finally finished with the printable version of my phonemic awareness interactive RTI pack. This is another one of those packs that I started early in the year to use with my own students and slowly just added to it as I needed things. I finally buckled down to complete it. If you haven't seen my other posts about phonemic awareness, you should definitely start with my post that ... Read More about Phonemic Awareness RTI Printables

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Sarah's First Grade Snippets

5 days ago

Sarah's First Grade Snippets
Happy Halloween! 🎃👻 Let’s talk about something that’s been haunting English spelling for centuries… GHOST LETTERS!Did you know that many of the letters we call silent today weren’t always silent?Long ago, the k in knee, the w in write, the g in gnaw, and the b in lamb were actually pronounced! Over time, pronunciation changed, but the spellings stayed. Those letters are like little ghosts of sounds from the past! 👻Some of these spelling patterns have fascinating connections to meaning.👻 kn: Notice how words like knee, knuckle, knit, and knife relate to joints or sharpness. 👻 wr: Many words beginning with wr involve twisting, turning, or bending. Think about how wrist, wring, writhe, wrench, and wreath relate to twisting.)👻 gn: Words like gnaw and gnash share a connection to biting or grinding. Even a gnat is an insect that bites! 👻 mb: These words have another interesting story! While the b in lamb was once pronounced, the b in words like thumb and numb was added to the spelling later, likely because of the influence of other words. (Source: etymonline.com)Of course, these aren’t “rules” that we should apply to every word. They’re fascinating patterns and interesting tidbits though! So these sounds may be gone, but the letters are still haunting our spelling! 👻Happy Halloween! 🎃If you’re interested in learning more about words and how to integrate morphology, phonics, vocabulary, and grammar, comment BEYOND. ...

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Sarah's First Grade Snippets

1 week ago

Sarah's First Grade Snippets
When we teach spelling, are we just teaching students to put letters in the right order? There’s so much more to it! English spelling is influenced by both sound and meaningful structure. Words are made up of meaningful parts called morphemes. And when students begin to recognize those parts, they start to understand WHY words are spelled the way they are.One way we can help students notice this is by “spelling out” a word. When we spell a word aloud, we can help students notice how that word is built. Instead of just naming each letter, we say the letters in a way that highlights the word’s structure. (Check out the examples on the slide.)Michelle and I are so passionate about bringing morphology into our literacy instruction. 💗 That’s exactly the kind of teaching we explore inside our Beyond Phonics Club.We created this community to help teachers connect the pieces of literacy instruction, from phonics and spelling to morphology, vocabulary, and beyond. We have videos, a growing library of lessons and student materials, and monthly community calls. Teaching reading doesn’t stop at phonics, and neither should our professional learning!💗 Want to join us? Comment BEYOND and we’ll send you the details! ...

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Sarah's First Grade Snippets

3 weeks ago

Sarah's First Grade Snippets
When you think of dyslexia, what comes to mind? 🤔A common misconception is that it’s mixing up letters or reading words backward. But those aren’t the signs we should be looking for!There are signs we might notice in a student’s reading, spelling, writing, and even before they start learning to read.And dyslexia doesn’t look the same in every child! It exists on a continuum, with varying degrees of difficulty and different patterns of strengths and weaknesses.So what should we do when we notice these signs?Screeners like DIBELS and Acadience can help us identify students who may be at risk for reading difficulties. From there, we can dig deeper to understand exactly where a student is struggling and what instruction they need.And remember, we don’t need to wait for a dyslexia diagnosis to begin providing targeted intervention!The more we understand what dyslexia can look like, the better equipped we are to recognize students who may need extra support. 💗Save this one to refer back to! Want a copy? Comment DYSLEXIA and I’ll send the link to this free download along with a few others. ...

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Sarah's First Grade Snippets

4 weeks ago

Sarah's First Grade Snippets
If you’re looking for a quick reference guide and visuals like this one to post around your school, comment “dyslexia” and I will send you the link to a free resource. Every October, we talk about dyslexia awareness, but awareness is just the first step. What truly changes outcomes is understanding how to teach, support, and empower these students day to day.Students with dyslexia process language differently, so reading requires intentional, structured instruction that helps build the pathways fluent readers use automatically.If you’re looking to learn more: 📚 Casey Harrison 🦋The Dyslexia Classroom®️ has a wonderful new book full of insight and practical guidance. 📚Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz is a must-read!🎧 Listen to Michelle Sullivan • Science of Reading • Literacy Podcast October podcast series on dyslexia awareness.🌐 Visit your local Decoding Dyslexia chapter to connect with advocacy and resources in your state.💡 Explore The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) website for definitions, fact sheets, and training opportunities. ...

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Sarah's First Grade Snippets

1 month ago

Sarah's First Grade Snippets
Your students know the phonics skills…so why are some of them STILL struggling? Maybe they can read the simpler words, but things start to fall apart as the words get bigger.Maybe they know a phonics pattern during the lesson, but you’re not seeing it transfer to their reading and spelling.Maybe they can decode the word…but have no idea what it means.Or maybe YOU can see where your students are getting stuck, but you’re not always sure what to point out or say in the moment.That’s exactly what we’re talking about TOMORROW. 🎉Join us for our FREE Masterclass! We’ll show you how understanding just a little more about how words actually work can change what you notice, how you respond when students get stuck, AND help you do more with the literacy instruction you’re already providing.And yes—this is for K–5. 🙌📅 September 30
⏰ 7 PM ET
💻 Live on Zoom
🎟️ 100% FREETag a teacher friend who needs to come with you! ❤️Comment JOIN and we’ll send you all the details!Logos Literacy Academy • Beyond Phonics Club • Morphology Sarah Paul | Science of Reading Michelle Sullivan • Science of Reading • Literacy Podcast ...

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