Explore our collection of free classroom resources designed to support foundational literacy skills, including a colorful handwriting poster that reinforces proper writing posture; a helpful spelling errors chart that explains the three main types of spelling mistakes; and student-friendly fluency bookmarks, complete with a teacher guide, to build confident, expressive reading in grades K–2. […]
For Teachers
Making Writing Instruction Work: Practical Tools, Real Results
By Leigh Buettler, M.S.Ed. I consistently hear from teachers that their curriculum doesn’t really include writing instruction. Sure, there are writing prompts, but there often aren’t full lesson plans educators can use to actually teach students how to write. On top of this, many educators report leaving their preparatory programs feeling unprepared to deliver systematic, […]
Is your Tier 2 instruction meeting every learner’s needs?
By Leigh Buettler, M.S.Ed. A few years ago, I decided to learn how to knit, and took advantage of easy access to a local yarn shop that offered a variety of high-quality classes. I began with a true beginner’s course and a simple project: a scarf. The instruction was paced to match our needs, and […]
Reflecting on Student Behaviors to Elevate Teaching
By Leigh Buettler, M.S.Ed. and Elizabeth Keenan, M.Ed. Figuring out what works for our students, and what doesn’t, is part of the art and science of teaching. All practicing educators have experienced a time when a thoughtfully designed lesson doesn’t result in the student learning we intended. At other times, we may see that a […]
Are your literacy lessons moving too fast, too slow, or you just don’t know? Part II
By Peggy Price, M.Ed., F/OGA, Director of the Orton-Gillingham Institute and Leigh Buettler, M.Ed., Director of Professional Learning In November, we wrote about the importance of clear mastery criteria and lesson pacing, and recently wrote about the instructional hierarchy, or the five stages of learning every educator should know. To help students generalize skills beyond […]
The 5 Stages of Learning Every Educator Should Know
Understanding the Hierarchy of Learning can be a game-changer in how we approach teaching and assessing our students. By intentionally guiding them from acquisition to generalization, we can help them not only master skills but also apply them in meaningful, real-world ways – and cut down on the amount of time we spend wondering what happened? and subsequently reteaching.
