Overall statistics now show without doubt that explicit instruction in phonics provides the essential foundation for competency in reading, writing and spelling.  What can we expect of our teachers, many of whom have never had the opportunity to discover – or experience – what explicit instruction in phonics is actually about.  How threatened might you [...]

Beginning writers (and older poor writers) are pretty clueless about punctuation. I started using visual strategies such as framing to show them what a sentence looks like, and to explain the purpose of punctuation using kid logic. Materials are available at elementory.com

marhaban Hello kayf hāluk? How are you? shukran. wa ant? Thank you. Fine, And you? ‘anā bi-khayr I’m fine ilā l-liqā’ So long; Until the next time mā-smuk? What’s your name? ‘ismī salīm My name is Salim ‘ismuhu rashīd His name is Rashid ‘ismuhā warda Her name is Warda ‘anā sā’ih I’m a tourist (as [...]

Activities that help teach phonics include having students connect the sound of a letter to the shape, allowing the students to trace the shape of a letter and having students look at objects that all start with the same sound. Provide visual interest for students learning about phonics with advice from awriting instructor and former [...]