Managing Classroom Decibels with /d/

Another literature connection to /d/ sound is the children’s book “Decibella” written by Julia Cook and illustrated by Anita DuFolla. If you are an educator or just trying to help someone become more aware of the voice volume level, this is an AWESOME book and classroom management strategy I found on “Bright Concepts 4 Teachers.”

Static Electrified Short /a/

You can connect short /a/ sound to the concept of static electricity with this science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) activity from “i heart CRAFTY things.” Check out the Static Electricity Butterfly Experiment. Interested in tutoring or know a parent who’s looking for a reading tutor? Might I offer some suggestions for helping your child

Crockpot short /o/ Recipe

Connect short /o/ sound to this recipe for “Crockpot Chicken Gnocchi Soup” from “Pinch of Yum.” “Crockpot” had two short /o/ sounds. WARNING: Of the three possible pronunciations for “gnocchi”, short /o/ is NOT necessarily an option: people have called it nyawk-kee, nok-ee or noh-kee. Interested in tutoring or know a parent who’s looking for a

Baked French Dessert Lands Support Role

Where do you begin with emergent readers, people who struggle distinguishing the sounds that letters make. We begin with /c/ as in “cat.” It’s also known as “hard c.” In the spirit of summer berry-picking in some parts of the United States, I found an an excellent recipe with /c/ called “Berry Clafoutis Recipe” on

Whistling Words With “wh”

The digraph “wh” is pronounced /w/, just like the letter “w.” One literature connection to “wh” is A Whistle for Willie written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats. Peter is a little boy who yearns for the ability to whistle. He is imaginative and loves to pretend. He follows his dog throughout his neighborhood and

The Wocket Models More than /w/

There is only one mention of the Wocket in There’s a Wocket in My Pocket written by Dr. Suess. However, that’s enough to connect to the /w/ sound for me. This has become more of an excuse for me to read aloud silly rhymes of made-up household creatures to my students. That’s not to say

There, This, That – Voiced /th/

I was originally in the public library looking for another book to connect to the voiced /th/ concept when I came across, There Is a Bird on Your Head written and illustrated by Mo Willems. The story’s simple dialogue offers ample opportunity to add prosody to deepen the characters during a read aloud. This could

Sheep Surely Show /sh/

The second digraph introduced as a new concept is /sh/. My favorite literature connection to /sh/ is Sheep in a Jeep written by Nancy E. Shaw and illustrated by Margo Apple. In this story, a group of white, fluffy livestock are riding in a Jeep with one of their own behind wheel. The popular off-road

A Squirrelly Way to Show /s/

My sister, who is also a special education teacher, introduced me to the character Scaredy Squirrel several years ago. Scaredy Squirrel was written and illustrated by Mélanie Watt. This worrisome, high-anxiety squirrel provides an awesome literature connection to /s/. He’s unwilling to step outside the tree he where he resides. Scaredy squirrel surrounds himself with

Ridding Enemies with short /e/

Mix a literature connection to short /e/ and a social skills lesson by reading Enemy Pie. This children’s picture book was written by Derek Munson and illustrated by Tara Calahan King. The boy in this book has only one sworn enemy who he needs to get rid of. His father tells him he’s had experience