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How reading is learned, and how to teach it
150 articles for teachers, tutors and parents, grouped by topic. Each one answers a question first, then explains the method, with scripts you can use and links to the research.
Science of reading
What the science of reading is, where it came from, and what it changes in a lesson: the Simple View, the reading rope, orthographic mapping and more.
Teaching reading at home
How to teach a child to read at home: what to teach first, how long lessons should be, which books to use, and what to do when reading gets hard.
Phonemic awareness
What phonemic awareness is, how it differs from phonological awareness, and how to teach blending, segmenting and sound changes in a few minutes a day.
Phonics
What phonics is and how to teach it: scope and sequence, digraphs, blends, silent e, vowel teams, r-controlled vowels and how to review them.
Decoding and syllables
How to teach decoding, blending and longer words: the six syllable types, syllable division patterns, word families and multisyllable routines.
Spelling
How spelling is learned and taught: the spelling rules worth teaching, dictation, sound boxes, and why spelling and reading support each other.
Sight words
What sight words are, how heart words work, and how to teach high frequency words with phonics instead of flash card memory alone.
- Heart words vs sight words: what each term means and how to teach them
- How to teach sight words the science-of-reading way
- Orthographic mapping of irregular words: how tricky words get stored
- The Dolch sight word list explained
- Sight word sentences: how to write them and use them well
Fluency
What reading fluency is, how it is measured in words correct per minute, what the grade norms mean, and how to build fluency with repeated reading.
Vocabulary and morphology
How to teach vocabulary and word parts: prefixes, suffixes, Greek and Latin roots, word sums, and choosing which words to teach directly.
- Vocabulary instruction: how to choose words and teach them so they stick
- How to teach Greek and Latin roots
- Prefixes and suffixes worth teaching first
- Morphology for struggling readers: where to start and what to teach
- Word sums and word matrices: what they are and how to use them
Comprehension
How reading comprehension works and how to teach it: background knowledge, vocabulary, retelling, summarizing and questions that make students think.
- Reading comprehension strategies that work, and how to teach them
- Background knowledge and reading comprehension: why knowing matters
- Text structure: how to teach students how nonfiction is built
- Inference: how to teach students to read between the lines
- Summarizing: how to teach students what to keep and what to cut
Assessment
How reading assessment works: screeners, diagnostic phonics checks, progress monitoring and how to turn results into IEP goals and next lessons.
- Reading assessment types: screening, diagnostic, progress monitoring and outcome
- Universal screening for reading: a teacher's guide
- Phonics survey: how to give and score one
- Informal decoding inventory: what it shows and how to use it
- Spelling inventory: how to give it and score it by feature
Intervention
How reading intervention works: tier 2 and tier 3 support, planning an intervention lesson, group size, dosage and deciding when to change course.
- Reading intervention that works: tiers, dosage and group size
- Tier 2 vs Tier 3 reading intervention: what actually changes
- Small group phonics intervention: a 30-minute lesson plan
- Reading intervention schedules: minutes, days and weeks
- The Orton-Gillingham approach: what it is, what it isn't, and what the research says
Dyslexia
Signs of dyslexia by age, how teaching can help, what to try at home and at school, and when to ask for an evaluation from a qualified professional.
Older readers
How to teach reading to older students and adults: finding the gaps, phonics that does not feel babyish, decoding long words and building fluency fast.
- Phonics for older students: where to start and how to teach it
- Assessing older struggling readers: how to find the real gap
- Multisyllabic word routines for grades 4-8
- Reading fluency in middle school: what to do when students read slowly
- Decodable texts for older readers: choosing, writing and using them
Writing and handwriting
How to teach handwriting and early writing: letter formation, pencil grip, sentence dictation and why writing by hand helps students learn letters.
- Handwriting and reading: why letter formation still matters
- Letter formation order: teaching lowercase letters by stroke family
- Pencil grip: what to correct and when to let it go
- Sentence writing for early readers: a step-by-step plan for K to 2
- Dictation as spelling practice: a short daily routine that works
Written by the Literacy Trail team. How we research, source and correct these pages: editorial standards.