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If you’re ready to condense 70+ years of research about how brains learn to read into just five DAYS, you’ve gotta’ join my challenge! In just an hour each day, you’ll get all of the must-know information PLUS dozens of cheat sheets & print-and-play teaching tools that make it easy to start implementing everything right away.🔥

It’s really never been easier to put the science of reading into action!

The twice-a-year event kicks off next Sunday, the 12th and you have to grab your spot ahead of time…

✨ Comment CHALLENGE and our friendly Plato-Bot will send you an invite!

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You’ve probably heard people throw the terms phonological & phonemic awareness around a lot lately because research has shown that they’re important keys to unlocking students’ reading growth. 🔑 But what’s the difference between them? Here’s the scoop...

Phonological awareness is an umbrella term covering five different skills:

☂️word analysis
☂️alliteration
☂️syllable awareness
☂️rhyming, and (the overachiever in the group…)
☂️phonemic awareness

Phonemic awareness includes SIX skills all on its own:

1️⃣phoneme isolation
2️⃣phoneme blending
3️⃣phoneme segmenting
4️⃣phoneme adding
5️⃣phoneme deletion
6️⃣phoneme substituting

Similar to how a square is also a rectangle OR a girl is also a kid, phonemic awareness is a specific type of phonological awareness skill.

I’ll be giving you all of the must-know information about these skills PLUS fun print-and-play ways to practice them, inside my five day science of reading challenge.

🚀 Comment CHALLENGE to request your invite!

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I can’t help but wonder what would happen if we just started from scratch and used the 70+ years of research, brain scans, and case studies to teach reading the brain-friendly way. I bet things would be a whole lot different. 🚀

I also have to believe that if we put kids at the center of our work and started using only the teaching tools and strategies that help them, there’s no stopping the impact we could have on their learning. 🔥

👉 I can’t wave a magic wand and reinvent your literacy curriculum or standards, but I CAN empower you with the knowledge, tools, and strategies you need to help your kids become successful readers. I’m doing my five-day science of reading challenge again on February 12 and I’d love for you to join me! Just comment CHALLENGE and our friendly Plato-Bot will send you the invite.❤️

#scienceofreading #prekteacher #kindergartenteacher #firstgradeteacher

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The 5 Ps of the science of reading! 🔥 How many of these are you doing? Let me know in the comments. 😄

👉 And if you’d like a quick & easy way to check off all 5 of these things, comment CHALLENGE below so our friendly Plato-Bot can give you an invite to our science of reading challenge. It’s game changing!

#scienceofreading #prekteacher #kindergartenteacher #firstgradeteacher

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Do you know the doubling rule yet? If a one syllable word ends with a short vowel and a consonant, double the consonant before adding the ending. Here are some sample words to get you started:

ZIP—> ZIPPED—> ZIPPING
HOP—> HOPPED—> HOPPING
SKIP—> SKIPPED—> SKIPPING
TAP—> TAPPED—> TAPPING
STEP—> STEPPED—> STEPPING
GET—> GETTING
DRIP—> DRIPPED—> DRIPPING
HIT—> HITTING
ZAP—> ZAPPED—> ZAPPING
DROP—> DROPPED—> DROPPING

👉 What other words could we add to this list? Share one in the comments below so we can create a GIANT list of options to pick from.

👉 And be sure to save this so you can remember the words later!

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Do you teach the magic E?? ✨ Here’s a handy little poem that helps make it stick for kids:

Hello! My name is magic E.
I am quite tricky as you will see…

I make the vowel before me change.
With a wave of my wand, it says its name.

So if you hear an A, E, I or U, look carefully to see if I’m there too.

👉 Be sure to save this so you remember the words!

👉 And check my story for the 🔗 to the F-R-E-E wands!

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This interactive anchor chart is a BIG crowd pleaser!👏 It’s a fun way to help kids learn when to write the /ow/ sound with OU vs. OW. You just need a simple stack of Band-Aids…

When the /ow/ sound comes in the beginning or middle of a word, it’s most often spelled OU. A few examples include sound, loud, & ouch.

But when the sound comes at the end of a word, it is spelled OW. Think of how, now, & cow.

(OW is also used when the /ow/ sound is followed by a single L, N, EL, or ER like in the words owl, town, vowel, & tower.)

👉 Make sure to save this so you have the step-by-step!

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Teacher truth 💣!

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Epic teacher hack! 🍎 This trick is a simple way to make open and closed syllables stick for kids….

Open syllables end with a vowel and the vowel makes its long sound so it says its name: SHE, A, BE, HI…

Closed syllables, on the other hand, end in a consonant and the vowel changes its sound to short: SHED, AT, BED, HIM…

You can help make the concept really stick for kids by attaching a series of open syllable @postit notes to the door frame. Then place postit consonants that make each syllable closed to the actual door.

With just a simple push of the door, the syllables will go from open to closed and the vowel will change from its long to short sound. 🪄

#scienceofreading #teacherhacks #phonicsfun

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This simple little teaching tweak is a HUGE game changer! When you sort your sight words by phonics skill, students’ brains are able to memorize those words faster and easier than ever before.

These print-and-go sheets include Dolch words through second grade + the first 200 Fry words.

👉 Comment FAST and our friendly Plato-Bot will send you the 🔗.

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How do you sound map COULD? Here’s the scoop…

We used to have students memorize sight word flashcards but, thanks to brain research, now we know there’s a MUCH better way…

Sound mapping helps students memorize words in just 4-5 exposures because it draws upon their natural super power for spoken language. 💪

To do it, just follow these five simple steps:

1. Tap the individual sounds in the word on the table.

2. Map those sounds by having kids place a candy heart or other manipulative in each box as you say the sounds again.

3. Graph the sounds by asking students to write the letters used to spell each sound.

4. Write the entire word.

5. And then read it!

Have students repeat the same steps 5 times to help their brain add it to their orthographic lexicon and memorize the word forever.

👉 BONUS TIP: After practicing the word COULD five times, ask students to map the words WOULD & SHOULD so they can notice that the only difference between them is the beginning sound. 💡

👉 Save this so you know the steps when you’re ready to try it!

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Have you ever wondered why the words COULD & SHOULD have a silent L? Here’s the scoop…

When L comes after an A, O or U, it’s usually silent. For example…

HALF
SALMON
YOLK
FOLKS
WOULD
SHOULD

Like a lot of spelling and phonics rules, this one has some exceptions including HALO, BULK, SOLD, & FOLD but, more often than not, it’ll stay true.

👉 Be sure to save this so you have some go-to words to use when you teach it.

👉 And tag a teacher friend who would love teaching it to their kids too.❤️

#scienceofreading

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Supporting teachers is our “thing” so when a Plato Pack member asked for a fast & easy way to practice phonological awareness, we were excited to make her teaching dream come true. 🪄

These daily warm-ups take just five minutes to complete each day and there’s absolutely ZERO prep. Just read the words directly from the sheet and you’re ready to go.🔥

And don’t worry! We made sure to keep the practice playful & fun for kids so they’ll actually get excited to work on the skills each day.

The Plato Pack only opens up for enrollment twice a year and now’s the time – you can grab your spot until this Tuesday at midnight.

🪄Snag this entire set (plus HUNDREDS of other brain-friendly, science of reading aligned teaching tools!) inside The Plato Pack before the doors close up again on January 10th. #linkinprofile

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Fun teacher fact! 🥳 Just 9 prefixes make up 75% of words that use a prefix and 10 suffixes make up 85% of words with a suffix. That’s great news because we can teach them to students and set them up for some serious comprehension success. 💪

What are they??👇

👉The 9 most common prefixes are…

UN- (means not, opposite)
RE- (means again or back)
IN- IM- IG- IL- IR- (all mean not)
DIS- DI- DIF- (apart, away or opposite)
EN- EM- (to cause to be in place)
NON- (not, opposite)
IN- IM- IL- (in)
OVER- (too much)
MIS- (wrong, incorrect)

👉And the 10 most common suffixes are…

-S, -ES (plural noun, 3rd person singular verb)
-ED (past tense, past participle)
-ING (gerund, present participle)
-LY (adverb)
-ER, -OR (noun, person or thing that does something)
-ION, -TION (noun, conveys action or condition)
-IBLE, -ABLE (adjective, capable of)
-AL, -IAL (noun, act or process of)
-Y (adjective, characterized by)
-NESS (noun, state of being)

👉 Save this so you can sprinkle these suffixes and prefixes into your lesson plans throughout the year!

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playdough2plato

Let’s kick word ladders up a notch with a playful, hands-on twist! 🥳

Just write one word ending on each ladder rung and then have kids add randomly selected cubes to make their words.

I worked on short vowel CVC words here but you could easily increase the difficulty by:

1️⃣ Writing a variety of short vowel endings on each ladder so students need to quickly switch from reading words that end in AT to IN to OP to UT, etc.

2️⃣ Having students place pairs of digraph cubes like CH, SH, TH at the beginning so they work on initial digraphs

3️⃣ Writing ending blend word families on the ladder rungs so they practice final blends

👉 Be sure to save this so you remember the setup when you need it!

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This phonics hack makes it soooo much easier to learn the soft G and C sound! 🏆 When C or G come before the letters E, I, or Y, they say soft /s/ or /j/. For example…

Cent
Giraffe
Cycle
Gentlemen
Circle
Gym

👉 Be sure to save this so you can remember the trick when it’s time to teach it!

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Sunday is going to be awesome. Why? Because I've pulled together something AMAZING to help YOU! 🎁

As you know, 2022 has been one heck of a year - tremendous uncertainty, BIG challenges, and many difficult decisions.

That's why I want to change the energy. I want to focus on what you and I can do to make 2023 a year of tremendous growth, opportunity, and joy.

And I pulled together a 4-day challenge that will do just that! It’s called Jumpstart Your 2023 and it’s kicking off on Sunday.

And here's the part that will make you really JUMP for joy… It's 100% FREE!

But you have to sign up before the doors close.

👉Comment JUMPSTART below and our friendly Plato-Bot will send you an invite!

P.S. It’s pre-recorded so you can stay in your comfiest pajama pants!

#newyear #kindergartenteacher #firstgradeteacher #prekteacher #2023goals

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They say it’s not about a year of life, it’s about putting life into a year and, when it comes to teaching reading, that’s exactly what you’ve been doing all 2022 long.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for continuing to help the world become a better place by loving your students, believing they can achieve great things, and using brain-friendly teaching tools and strategies so they can reach their fullest potential.

Not only are you changing THEIR lives, but you’re changing their families and communities too!

I can’t wait to see what’s ahead for us in 2023.❤️

👉 Save this for inspiration in the new year.

👉 Follow @playdough2plato for more science of reading tips and done-for-you teaching tools.

#2022recap #recap2022 #scienceofreading #scienceofreadingteachers #teachingideas

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4 days ago

THE SCIENCE OF READING IN ACTION CHALLENGE

Something big and exciting is happening!

Something HUGE!!!

👉👉We’ve opened our doors for The Science of Reading in Action 5 Day Challenge!

Do you know what that means?

You can finally get your hands on the simple 5-day crash course that’s helped hundreds of teachers start confidently implementing the science of reading in their classrooms.🥳

But the doors are only open for a limited time!

And speaking of time…

Once upon a time, teachers believed in drilling kids with sight word flash cards and mostly focusing on visual memory for reading…

…but it turned out to be a fairytale.

Because 70+ years of research shows that learning to read is an auditory skill.💡

👉👉So, now we know that not only were these techniques NOT effective – they were keeping our kids from living (and reading) happily ever after.

But TODAY’S the perfect day to make struggling readers a thing of the past!

Starting on Sunday, February 12 - and in less than an hour a day - you’ll send your students’ reading results THROUGH THE ROOF!⚡️

Your teaching tool box is about to be overflowing with:

A rock-solid understanding of what the research does (and does not!) tell us about how students learn to read
The 5 most important reading skills and easy ways to teach them
Simple strategies to teach students to read 10x faster
Confidence that not one student is slipping through the cracks

➡️➡️And all you have to do is comment CHALLENGE below, and we’ll send you the link to enroll.

I’m so excited you’re coming with us! ❤️

#SOR #Challenge #Scienceofreading ... See MoreSee Less

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