Direct instruction, teaching spelling patterns, frequent repetition, and support for mastery of highest frequency words are key to sight word instruction.
Recent studies indicate that teaching phonemic awareness and the alphabet together generally has a much higher impact on later reading achievement than phonemic awareness teaching alone.
What better way to welcome a new baby than with a shelf full of classic books? Reading books together from the very beginning lays the foundation for literacy and takes parent and child on shared journeys that bring shared discoveries and joy. So if there’s a new child joining your family or circle of friends, welcome them with a basket of books — and a lap upon which to share them.
Sid Fleischman has written dozens of books for children, and each one is crafted carefully with vivid detail and expressive language. Fleischman knows that a great children’s book will live with readers for a long, long time and he wants to get it right. It took him more than 10 years and several false starts to complete his Newbery-winning book, The Whipping Boy. His ideas can spring from just about anywhere — his time travel story, The 13th Floor, was inspired by the superstitious fear of the number thirteen (triskaidekaphobia). Often, his stories hint at the possibility of magic in our lives, not surprising for someone who once toured as a professional magician.
