The Basics and Beyond: Keeping SoR Practices Embedded in Reading Instruction

 Those that know me well know that I enjoy reading about the Science of Reading (SoR) and the structured approaches to teaching reading. It is my firm belief that students need explicit, systematic and multi-sensory instruction in grades Pre-K- 2 in order to establish a foundation of reading. This helps them to "crack the code" and therefore learn to read independently. It is also my hope that because students feel confident in their skills from learning strategies to decode words and understand their meanings, they establish a love for reading.

One of the texts I am enjoying right now is Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom by Jan Burkins and Kari Yates. This book has been a great support so far to me, since we use the Workshop model in our school. I've used this "deep dive" opportunity to learn strategies to integrate into the model we have to deliver effective instructional practices. 

Having a focus on phonological and phonemic awareness is one of the core concepts the authors stress in the book. I've also noticed this year that, for many reasons, my students need the most support in this area. My co-teacher and I use our two RTI periods to focus on these skills. We plan our sessions around the skills that each individual student needs and then configure groups. I typically work with the students that need phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and phonics instruction. My co-teacher works on these skills with students and different levels of need, but those who also need fluency and vocabulary instruction. We've both started incorporating strategies from the book into our small group time. 

One example of a strategy we use is introducing words that do not follow the regular phonemic pattern. We use the suggested steps for that part of the lesson to provide students with information about the pattern of spelling/sounds, and the meaning of the word. Through this routine, students learn which sound are "expected" and "unexpected" in the words. This helps them to connect the phonemes to the graphemes of the words. Incorporating this into other lessons and sequences allows students to go beyond the surface level of just reading and spelling a word, and to understand the etymology of it. 

It's important for educators to learn about these practices to help all young readers, not just those who are struggling. Learning our language and how to read can be easier with the right approach. I'm grateful to have this new book as my personal companion to learning more about the Science of Reading and different approaches to take to help my students effectively learn how to read. 

Final thoughts: Keep using new and current research on SoR to design lessons that include different strategies that are based on evidence. Keep practicing these techniques to improve your instructional practice. Keep up the confidence! We are all learning and when we know better we do better for our students always... and that is what makes the difference!