Foundational Literacy Preview: Master the Art of High-Quality Practice

One of the most important challenges of teaching students in their earliest years of school is setting them on the path to becoming joyful, competent, confident readers. As more schools invest in strong Foundational Skills curriculum, teachers are increasingly supported by their materials in choosing what to teach—which letters and sounds, in which order, and at what frequency. But how to bring these lessons to life is just as important in ensuring that students don’t just hear and see the content, but practice, apply, and master it.

In our upcoming remote Foundational Literacy workshop, we’ll share resources, techniques, and video that excellent teachers use to effectively implement a variety of strong early reading curricula. Check out this sneak peek of Dayla Bedford leading a series of phonics routines with her first-graders to see how she ensures high quality practice for all students and creates a joyful classroom culture around learning to read.

Dayla’s routines are consistent and highly engaging for students. Her rhythmic cues (“Everybody!” “Just Jo-osh!”) are clear and predictable; students don’t have to wonder when or how they should respond, so they can focus more closely on the content itself. The consistency of the routine also allows students to get lots of practice in a short amount of time.

By keeping her pacing quick and alternating between Call and Response and Cold Call, Dayla maintains students’ attentiveness and gathers data on their understanding, providing specific, supportive prompting immediately when she hears an error (“You’re giving me the beginning sound, I want the ending sound.”). When they do make errors, students are resilient and positive, which speaks to the strong Culture of Error that Dayla has built in her class.

For more videos like this, join our three-session remote workshop on Sept. 14, 16, and 18 by registering here.