Five Components of Reading
Phonemic Awareness
Words and pictures. (2010). Retrieved from
This is a useful site that has many Smart Board/Whiteboard activities that focus on long vowel sounds and vowel combinations. This site uses the words within text, which is a value-added skill for the student to identify these phonemes in text.
Reading 101: phonemic awareness. (2010). Retrieved from
This is a good site for parents. The web page includes a brief explanation of phonemic awareness and a list of links that parents could use to find resources.
Literature for literacy telecollaborative project. (1999). Retrieved from
This citing will take the reader to an all-in-one site covering different aspects of phonemic awareness. Specifically, there are readers that cover certain phonemes and activities that cover such items as suffixes.
Phonics
Carl, Cherry. (2010). Carl's corner. Retrieved from .
Carl’s Corner has a center activity for almost all aspects of phonics and phonemic awareness. It also provides materials for every story in Scott Foresman’s Reading Street Series (first through third grades).
Starfall. (2010). Retrieved from
This site includes on-line activities that are split up into sections. One section focuses on sounds, as well another focuses on putting the sounds into words. In addition, this site includes activities on comprehension strategies. I have recommended this site to parents many times to help reinforce at home, the phonemes we learn in class.
Word world. (2010). Retrieved from
This site is based on a show on PBS, where the characters make reading fun and is friendly for first grade level students to navigate. In addition, it really focuses on the skill of blending phonemes together which is a challenge in first grade.
Vocabulary
WriteExpress Corporation. (1996-2010). Rhyming Dictionary. Retrieved from
I decided this year to rhyme my spelling word list each week based on the phoneme we were working on. I found this site and used it a lot to find words that rhymed, that also could review past phonemes. As an example, hot and pot I could find words like shot and spot.
ThinkMap, Inc. (2010). Vocabgrabber. Retrieved from
This site is really useful when teaching synonyms and antonyms, because it takes a word and then maps out every word related to than word. Furthermore, it does it in a neat web format which intrigues a student’s eye.
SpellingCity.com. (2010). Games. Retrieved from
I learned about spellingcity.com from other teachers at a conference. This is sites that allows a teacher to type in her own spelling words and then choose from a variety of games that could be interactive or printed on paper. This is the spelling site that I recommend to parents to help students study at home.
Fluency
Murray, B. (2010). The Reading genie: developing reading fluency. Retrieved from
This is an article that defines the level of fluency expected from an average first grader and how to take that reader to the next level in fluency. As well, the article gives specific goals or benchmarks and how to give descriptive feedback to the students.
© University of Oregon Center on Teaching and Learning (DIBELS). (2010). Fluency. Retrieved from
This is also an article from the same organization that created the DIBELS Assessment. In the article, not only if fluency defined it also tells what skills must be mastered to be fluent. In addition, the writer approaches fluency improvement from the perspective of teaching struggling readers the traits of successful readers.
Fly, G. (2010). Rocket Moms: Fluency Activities. Retrieved from
I found this site and thought that it was a parent friendly resource list for parents. The site gives links to web pages and books that could help parents help their child at home, including “Readers Theatre” and “Phonic Pathways”.
Comprehension
Busy Teacher's Cafe. (2010). Comprehension strategies. Retrieved from
I found this website from a list of resources sent to me by the reading intervention teacher at my school. I have used a lot of the graphic organizers when teaching visualization and story mapping. I really like that these strategies come with tailored graphic organizers as opposed to worksheets.
Scholastic. (2010). Character scrapbook. Retrieved from
I wanted to find a way for students to start literature circle activities on-line. I found this web activity on the Scholastic site and now am teaching a group of students to complete the activity on-line one day (ten things about the main character in the story), print it out and then they meet as a group independently the next day to discuss the character. I am still searching the site to find activities that cover other story elements.
Wilhelm, J. (2010). Guidelines and student handouts for implementing read-aloud strategies in your class. Retrieved from
This site features a list of resources on how to monitor and facilitate read-alouds to improve comprehension. I thought it would be a helpful site for teachers who want read-aloud times that could be multi-faceted formative assessments.
Wisconsin Educational Communications Board. (2006-2010). Into the Book: strategies for learning. Retrieved from
I found this website and liked the way that it was designed. I liked the graphics and sound effects, which were inviting. I also liked that it was built to be a professional development site for specific comprehension strategies. Furthermore, it features video clips that discuss certain questions that a teacher may have when learning how to teach a specific learning strategy.