All About Orthographic Mapping:

Orthographic Mapping is NOT an activity - it’s something that happens in our brain.

Our brain is not hard-wired to read. Because of this, we must create pathways and roads that help our brains learn how to read.

Orthographic Mapping pathways look a little like this:

phonemic awareness → blending and segmenting → automatic spelling to sound correspondences → applying knowledge to decoding new words → connecting this to pronunciation and vocabulary

When we sit down to plan our small group time, we must keep the end goal of phonics in mind: we want to produce strong decoders and strong writers. When students are strong in decoding, they can become fluent. And when they become fluent, they can comprehend - that is our ultimate goal! I’ve put together a checklist of six things to keep in mind when choosing the right activities for your small group time.

With all of the rules out there on how to teach phonics, it can all feel overwhelming. I’ve put together a reference of Do’s and Don’t’s when it comes to teach phonics so you can feel confident in your instruction.

When preparing a phonics lesson based on the Science of Reading, we need to be sure we’re conducting it in three parts: a warm-up, explicit teaching, and application of skills. Below, you’ll find the first part of the lesson (the warm-up) and its four parts: a visual drill, an auditory drill, a blending drill, and a vowel intensive.

Wondering how to ensure your phonics time is effective? We must first start with Science. What is the Science of Reading? Here’s a quick look at what solid phonics instruction looks like, plus a little lesson in how our brain reads words.

The Importance of Letter Sounds

Alphabetic Principle - having knowledge of letters and the sounds that make up those letters. 

Letter name knowledge is the best predictor of reading achievement from kindergarten to 2nd grade.

We must be sure that letter sounds stick.

According to the National Reading Panel, Alphabet instruction must be three things:

Explicit

Systematic

Consistent 

Phonemic awareness needs to be incorporated daily with lots of modeling. It should be applied to print, but we also want to be sure students can be doing it like it’s second nature.

A students’ ability to manipulate individual sounds in words is a strong predictor of later reading success. Phonemic awareness also aids in vocabulary and fluency. The National Reading Panel found that “students who had a solid foundation in phonemic awareness had improved ability to read and spell in the long run.”

Meet Kristina Harrill - founder and author of Sweet for Kindergarten, a Teachers Pay Teachers store and blog where you can find her hard at work giving tips on how to simplify phonics instruction without sacrificing engagement and effectiveness.

Phonological awareness is the beating heart of reading. It’s where a reader’s journey first begins, and it’s of the utmost importance. As educators, we are called to introduce phonological awareness as our readers set out on their reading adventures.

The research all points in the same direction: all people learn to read in the same way.  But how? What are the steps to becoming a successful reader?  Which direction should they take? What are the foundational skills? Let’s look at the steps that every reader takes on his or her journey to become successful.