April is National Poetry Month, and since poetry plays an important role in our Roadways to Reading system, I always look forward to this opportunity to emphasize the reasons behind using the rich language of poetry to teach reading.

Roadways Literacy Studio is a “Structured Literacy Program,” which we have found to be so effective for struggling readers. Particularly, in the world of a dyslexic student, a structured literacy program can be a saving grace. This article explores the differences between balanced and structured reading programs.

Hello! My name is Benjamin Johnson and I’m an educator here at Out of the Box Academy. Since coming to work with Sheila Erickson back in 2016, I’ve had quite the journey along the path that is Roadways, learning just as much as the kids who benefit from the program. I come from a linguistic background with particular interests in grammar, phonetics, and morphology. Roadways is a stellar program for educating on these vital topics, topics I firmly believe should have a place within our existing provincial education program, but which sadly seem to be always lacking in some way or another within the classroom setting.

Spelling is one of the most tested elements of literacy and one of the least well taught. Most classrooms today follow a Traditional Spelling Method, and churn out students who cannot spell! Even students that succeed on weekly tests often struggle to spell correctly in other contexts.

Repeated reading can be incorporated into a regular classroom reading program or be used with content area text. It can be modified to include unassisted or assisted repeated-reading techniques as described above with whole groups, small groups, or individuals. Text selections need to be based on students' reading levels.

Have you ever thought about what it takes to solidify something new into your memory? Research shows that one of the key strategies is repetition. This is not a new idea – in fact, it is so old there is a Latin quote about it…. Repetitio mater studiorum est… ‘Repetition is the mother of all learning’.

What is phonics? It is simply the association between the sounds and letters in our language. Phonics is an essential component of reading instruction - an established fact, and documented by Nancy Lewkowicz in the Journal of Educational Psychology 1980.

Fluency refers to accurate reading at a speed that is easy for an audience to listen to and is read with expression dictated by the author’s punctuation.

You must go beyond the definitions of the words. Developing vocabulary as part of knowledge structure, when students get to a point where they are able to include those words in their reading, speaking, and writing, requires much more energy and focus than simply memorizing terms.

Comprehension… it’s the ultimate goal for your struggling readers! You can see why comprehension is the final key in the 5 pillars of reading. Without a certain level of competency in Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, and Fluency, how can we expect our students to comprehend what they are reading?

I have just completed benchmark assessments with many of my students. Once again I have a list of “look alike” words on the assessment protocol that the student needs to study and secure. I’m talking about words like “even and every,” “cold and could,” “said, and says,” and “for and from.” Sound familiar?

Dyslexia, a specific learning disability affecting 20% of our school population, can result in many of these children not being able to identify the differences between and among the sounds of letters in the alphabet. As a result, spelling is nearly impossible and pronouncing words correctly is difficult at best. So, writing and reading aloud are near-disasters for many. What does that mean for their future in the job market? It could be bleak!