Developing and maintaining reading skills is a complex process that can be a particular challenge for special education students. Luckily, it is easy to incorporate Science of Reading (SoR) practices into your teaching! Keep reading to learn all about SoR and how you can make it work in your classroom!
What is the Science of Reading?
The Science of Reading is based on evidence-backed strategies that will provide students with the key skills needed to learn to read. Five of the aspects that encompass the SoR approach are:
Phonics and Decoding: Teaching the relationship between letters and sounds.
Phonological Awareness: Teaching students to work with the sound parts of words through activities like rhyming, blending, and segmenting.
Fluency: Reading with accuracy, proper rate, and expression.
Vocabulary: Introducing and teaching the meaning of new words, with real-life connections.
Comprehension: Teaching students to discuss and understand texts and story elements, and how to use their background knowledge to comprehend what has been read.
Incorporating SoR Practices into your Classroom
In a special education classroom, we are sometimes bound to using certain intervention or replacement programs for our students. As a teacher, I have used Calkins reading, LLI, Spire, Edmark, Fundations, and other reading programs throughout my career. Some of these are definitely more Science of Reading friendly than others! However, SoR practices can be combined with programs you are already using in order to give exposure and practice in these important concepts.
For example, several of my students are instructed primarily with the Edmark reading program. Edmark teaching includes whole-word recognition and comprehension. But, I add Science of Reading strategies to my students’ instruction so that they also have exposure to phonics, vocabulary, and fluency. For vocabulary, matching activities help students make real-world connections to the Edmark words. And, I use the sentences from each lesson to reinforce reading fluency.
Similarly, if your students have ABA-based instruction, you can incorporate SoR concepts into their programming. Activities like phonics clip cards can help students practice letter sounds and phonological concepts.
Science of Reading Activities
In addition to direct instruction during small group times, here are some activities I use to incorporate SoR practice throughout the day.
Interactive Read Aloud
Reading aloud stories to your class is a great way to introduce a variety of concepts, including modeling reading fluency, teaching vocabulary, and developing comprehension. Using Simple Book Companions with your class is a great way to teach the story elements that lead to deeper understanding of what has been read!
I teach upper elementary, so I also love reading novels aloud to my class. I make my read aloud time very intentional by pre-teaching vocabulary words that will come up in the story, and planning spots for class wide discussions to bolster comprehension.
Phonological Awareness Following Directions Games
A quick following directions game can get students thinking about phonological awareness skills AND help them practice listening to directions! For example, I will say a word and have students tap out the syllables. Or, I will read two words and have the students give a thumbs up if they rhyme. I also post a visual cue on the board to remind students what to do. Incorporating multisensory activities like these helps learning stick!
Online Reading Games
There are a ton of great reading-based games online! My class loves to play on abcya.com, both independently and as a whole-group activity on the Smartboard. Playing a game like Alphabats – Rhyming Words helps reinforce important phonological concepts.
Foundational Skills for All Learners
Frederick Douglass said, “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” Giving our students the tools to learn to decode and read more words will unlock another dimension of independence for them. The foundational skills taught within the Science of Reading approach are a benefit to all students!
Have any questions about the Science of Reading? Do you have any strategies for teaching phonics skills to your students? Leave your thoughts in a comment!
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