Stephanie is a reading specialist in New York and we met with her to discuss how she uses Phonic Books in her classroom. Stephanie works with children who need reading intervention from Kindergarten through to second grade. *** Stephanie has been using Phonic Books for over five years and Magic Belt was the first series…
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Why are Phonic Books dyslexia-friendly?
The founders of Phonic Books are dyslexia trained reading specialists who taught in a dyslexia centre in London. When they began to publish decodable books, they wanted to include features that would help their students learn to read. They found that there was a lack of engaging and structured reading materials to consolidate the phonics…
Read MoreGroup work—routine for reading a decodable book in class
Download the guide to group work now! Learning to read is hard work. It is helpful to prepare students for reading a decodable book so that they experience success and enjoy their achievement. Here is a routine for group work that prepares students for reading success. Step 1: Word-building with target sounds/letters Skill: phonemic awareness…
Read MoreWhere does the Science of Reading go from here?
By Tami Reis-Frankfort Tami Reis-Frankfort began teaching in a public school in London, UK and later worked as a support teacher of English Language Learners. She trained in Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia) and for the first time discovered Structured Literacy. This was followed by training in Phono-Graphix and Sounds-Write, both Linguistic Phonics Programs. Tami began…
Read MoreStudy on the Science of Reading
A Stanford University study on The Achievement Effects of Scaling Early Literacy Reforms gives high marks to phonics-based reading instruction following research of test scores in 66 of the lowest-performing schools in California. These schools outpaced similar schools after educators adopted a phonics-based instruction. This study offers compelling evidence that Science of Reading methods for…
Read MoreHow to…teach the schwa sound
In our ‘how to…’ series we are going to delve into all things phonics instruction and give you our expert advice on developing confident readers. *** Did you know that the schwa is the most common sound in the English language? This is because there is a schwa sound in most multisyllabic words. Additionally, did…
Read MoreLetter to parents or caregivers
Print or email our letter to help parents or caregivers guide children through their literacy journey.
Read MoreOne thing that all teachers agree on is how important it is to get children reading
This is a testimonial by Ann Sullivan. Ann has over 30 years’ experience in mainstream and specialist education. Based in the UK, her career includes roles as a KS1 and KS2 class teacher, SEN secondary literacy teacher, school-based Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO), an advisory teacher for pupils with special educational needs and a Specialist…
Read MoreHow to…teach alternative spellings for vowel and consonant sounds
In our ‘how to…’ series we are going to delve into all things phonics instruction and give you our expert advice on developing confident readers. *** One of the difficult aspects of the English Alphabetic Code is that sounds (phonemes) can be spelled in different ways. For example, the sound /ae/ can be spelled ‘ai’…
Read MoreHow to…teach heart words
In our ‘how to…’ series we are going to delve into all things phonics instruction and give you our expert advice on developing confident readers. *** Heart words is another term for common words with tricky spellings, or high-frequency words with “irregular” spellings. The term “irregular” is a bit misleading because while beginner readers might…
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