Phonemic awareness is an essential foundational skill for unlocking the alphabetic principle to read words. It follows that weak phonemic awareness negatively impacts a student’s ability to readily blend words, leading to weak comprehension; we cannot understand what we cannot read.

The complexities of reading are many. Throughout the years, much attention has been given to K–2 reading instruction and rightly so. However, what happens when the students get bigger and the words they have to read get bigger and more unique?

It is especially important to keep interventions fresh and delivered with fidelity during the critical midyear time of potential growth in your students. The following tips can keep you energized and focused on delivering instruction and intervention as effectively as possible.

RTI/MTSS is complex, consisting of multiple components and moving parts. Among the components, Tier 3 is one of the most challenging to implement. There is little research specific to Tier 3 intervention in early childhood settings and there are many more questions than answers.

Part 2 of 2 discussing “The Big 5 of Reading” components and instruction, including Phonemic Awareness and Phonics/Advanced Word Study. Part 2 will address Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension.

Part 1 of 2 discussing “The Big 5 of Reading” components and instruction, including Phonemic Awareness and Phonics/Advanced Word Study. Part 2 will address Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension.