A good gift is hard to find. A “worn truth,” perhaps, as Billy Collins says in his poem, “The Lanyard,” but true nonetheless. After a study of Collins’ tribute to a mother’s love, young poets select an object that sends them “into the...

Brenda Z. Guiberson’s nonfiction book, Cactus Hotel, launches a series of activities that model for readers how to determine the main idea in a passage.  Class members engage in an online interactive game to test their...

Model for young readers how to make the shift from passive to active reading by making text-to-self and text-to-text connections. After a series of activities that provide guided practice, the focus shifts to making text-to-words...

An online interactive activity encourages young readers to employ the monitoring/repairing strategy to become better readers. Class members identify unfamiliar words, decode them, and use them in other contexts.

Model for your class how to become a better reader through questioning. After conducting a picture walk that introduces prediction strategies, learners play an interactive questioning cube game. Complete directions for the game and...

Introduce young readers to the comprehension strategy of visualizing by asking them to think about a place that makes them happy. After illustrating or using words to describe this place, the class moves on to an interactive game using...

Get your scholars ready to read their first story...with a little assistance, of course. Projecting the short story (included) for all readers to see, point to each word so they can sound it out together. The strategy here is not to have...

What a fun way to practice segmenting words into syllables! Engage learners by using their own names, spoken by Mico the puppet (or one of your favorites). Mico announces names slowly, syllable by syllable. If scholars have a...

Clapping out syllables gets more engaging when you're using learners' names. Model some names first, then have the class join you in chanting names with each syllable clapped out. Bring up the difference between multiple-syllable and...

Use a puppet (in this case named Mico) to make onset and rime more fun. Mico presents 12 picture cards to kindergartners, all depicting single-syllable words. He pronounces them with segmenting onset and rime, encouraging kids to say the...

Can you tell which words rhyme? Choose a body part as a starting word (i.e. head) and begin saying words to see if learners can identify those that rhyme. Does red rhyme with head? Continue giving examples, some...

Which word is Mico trying to say? A puppet helps make phoneme blending fun as you challenge your scholars to blend segmented words. Mico (or a puppet of your choice) has trouble saying words without separating the phonemes. Using the...

Take your kindergartners on a journey to the mythical planet Paz where residents segment words into phonemes, touching parts of their arm with each sound. This physical response to phoneme segmenting will appeal to your physical learners...

Mico is back, and he's ready to test your scholars in initial sounds in single-syllable words. Using a puppet and the picture cards provided (these are great and in full-color), play a game with pre-readers. Hold up three picture cards...

Mico the puppet wants to play a game! Can you figure out which picture card he's thinking of if he only says the middle sound? Choose three picture cards from the extensive library provided here, making sure scholars know what word each...

Looking for a tangible way to help emerging readers identify phonemes? You've found it! They use chips without letters to segment single-syllable words into first, middle, and last sounds. As you say each sound, scholars place a chip on...

Get pre-readers comfortable with phoneme substitution using these helpful letter cards, which are printable in three different sizes depending on your classroom needs. Once scholars understand some letter sounds, they can begin...

Emergent readers create new words by changing a phoneme, using sets of letter cards to spell out each CVC word. They begin by substituting initial sounds, then final sounds, and lastly the middle vowel. Help them sound out each word,...

Use some of these 80-word passages to practice reading fluency with your beginners. Project the text so all learners can see it, pointing to each word as scholars recite them one at a time. Warn readers of irregularly spelled words by...

Start by drawing a large letter m on the board for scholars to see. Do they know what letter this is? Once you've demonstrated the sound it makes, use these tips to help them make the same sound. There is even an audio...

Hook your scholars by drawing a large f on the board; do they know what letter this is? Once you've demonstrated the sound it makes, use these tips to help them make the same sound. Although the audio function is neat, it may not be...

The best way to get your scholars familiar with the alphabet is to expose them to each letter in multiple contexts. This strategy incorporates letter recognition, sound, word examples, and pronunciation, and emerging readers will feel...

Give youngsters a better grasp of the letter d by combining letter sounds, pronunciation, recognition, and word examples. Scholars examine the letter shape then listen to you make the /d/ sound and try it on their own....

As scholars are learning about letter sound correspondence use this activity to help them with the /u/ sound. Learners examine a large u on the board, identifying it if they can. They listen to you make its sound, explaining to...