Category: Research Base
5 Must-Read Science of Reading Resources (2024)
I think by now the buzz has worn off – Science of Reading is now an established concept in teaching English Language Arts and Reading. Established, but not fully-understood and not without debate. So let’s dig into 5 must-see resources to further our professional knowledge of the science of reading in 2024. Read Also >>…
The Role of Grammar in Literacy Skills
Grammar is not often discussed in ELAR standards or in curricular resources today. So we thought we’d give a quick glance into the research on grammar. Specifically, we are curious about the role grammar plays in literacy skills. We have questions such as: Does grammar increase spelling skills? Does grammar have a positive effect on…
Improving ESL Learners’ Grammar with Gamified-Learning
Grammar is intricate. This is certainly true with the complexity of English grammar. Grammar can be difficult for learners of English as a Second Language (ESL). But can grammar be mastered using games or digital technology? You might even wonder Why is Grammar Important (more on that here)? Yes, grammar skills and knowledge can improve…
Oral Reading Fluency Assessment
It’s one of the best tools for reading instruction and assessment of student reading skills growth – oral reading fluency assessment. It’s simple to administer, we have them embedded into our progress monitoring tools at Spiral WarmUps, and they can be administered in a variety of settings (small group, whole class, online, formal, informal, etc).…
Did Students Lose Reading Skills During COVID?
This quick article presents the research behind student learning during COVID as it pertains to reading competencies. But before we look at the research let’s recap some common sense. Ask any teacher, and you’ll get one of two stories: Ask any parent who withdrew their child from school during COVID (2020-2021), and you will also…
Guided Reading, Plus Phoneme-Grapheme Mapping
Guided reading is a powerful and well-researched approach to boosting reading comprehension, reading skills, and reading levels. Phoneme-Grapheme mapping is a lesser-known activity but is equally powerful to help students in their reading skills. What happens when reading teachers combine these two? When combined, these two instructional methods can create amazing reading gains! This is…
Spelling, Predictor of Reading Comprehension
Spelling is an important skill for writing, but did you know it is a powerful way to quickly measure student growth? A spelling assessment that is properly designed for progress monitoring can be used periodically to gauge overall student growth in reading and writing skills. We’re designing spelling assessments for this purpose – more on…
Why is Grammar Important?
Why isn’t there much time, if any, devoted to grammar these days? Should there be? Why is grammar important? Grammar has a bad rep because back in the 1980s many classrooms taught grammar – and that’s all. That was the course that we called Language Arts. And it was pure grammar, but we didn’t help students…
Developing New Reading Resources for All Members
I hope you are excited to hear that we are currently in the research and development stage of the newest reading and word study resources – including, pre-post-assessments, fluency warm-ups, and affixes. In our most recent research, we discovered teachers would like to see the following resources added to the warm-up memberships: Affixes Pre- and Post-Assessments…
Spiral Review Research: 3 Memory Processes
Memory is made from three processes: encoding, retention, and recall. In this quick spiral review research, we look at these brain processes and see how they relate to learning in your classroom. Your choice of instructional activities in the classroom may or may not have an impact on student learning. Have you ever heard, “We taught that, but…
Spiral Review, Long-Term Retention
How will spiral review impact long-term retention for your students’ learning?Spiral review can have a major impact on long-term retention. Cognitive scientist Jerome Bruner wrote decades ago (1960), “Even the most complex material, if properly structured and presented, can be understood.” You can take a basic skill such as spelling the long A sound with the…
Word Sorts to Build Automaticity
In this research brief, you will discover how word sorts can build automaticity in reading fluency and writing. I’ll present four research studies and quickly highlight how the findings inform research-based word sorts in a word study curriculum. Research-Based Word Sorts Word sorts are word learning activities that require students to use a variety of…
8 Ways to Use Word Study to Support Reading Comprehension
Word study kills reading comprehension. Plain and simple. But there are ways to use word study to save reading comprehension…and that’s what I’m going to show you in this post. Plus there are a few teaching bonuses along the way! If you teach in upper elementary or middle school, you know you don’t have time…
Research-Based Word Study
How to drastically increase reading levels with word study! Did you know research-based word study is not just about spelling? Did you know word study is not just for primary grades? Are you prepared to use word study to transform your students’ reading level growth and reading comprehension growth using daily spiral review? Yes, word study can do that! In…
