Teaching students to read is one of the most important things we do as educators.
Reading Universe can help. You'll find ready-to-use teaching strategies, in-classroom videos, interviews with teachers and reading experts, and quick, concrete answers to common questions about teaching reading and writing. And it's all free! We're glad you're here.
Teaching Step by Step
The Reading Universe Taxonomy is your interactive, step-by-step guide to teaching reading. It's designed for teachers, reading coaches, tutors, and caregivers — anyone who wants to help a child learn to read. Watch below to learn more — or dive right in and give it a try!
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[Music] If you teach reading, you know how rewarding it can be. But you've probably also found that in every class there will be students who really struggle with learning to read.
Reading Universe is here to help. With expert guidance we've developed a new framework to support educators everywhere. It's called the Reading Universe Taxonomy.
How does this free professional resource work? It's built upon the leading research on how we learn to read. We are born with the ability to learn oral language, but making sense of the written word doesn't come naturally; so we need to teach students that the letters on a page represent the sounds we all use to speak with each other.
The path to literacy is through word recognition. Children need to crack the alphabetic code using phonological awareness and phonics. They need to be able to hear that a spoken word like net is made up of separate sounds: /n/, /e/, /t/. That's phonological awareness. And they need to connect those sounds to the letters of the alphabet to see 'n', 'e', 't' and read net. That's phonics.
But being able to read words is just one part of the process. Students also need to understand what the words mean. That's called language comprehension. As children gain more knowledge of the world around them, they begin to recognize more of the words that they sound out. Then they can build on their knowledge through more reading. Only students who develop word recognition and language comprehension can achieve reading comprehension. It takes both to become a good reader.
Inside the Reading Universe Taxonomy you'll find everything you need to know about how to teach the reading skills your students need to master. Each literacy component is broken down into its many skills and processes. For each skill we show why it matters and how to teach it effectively, and we offer ideas for supporting students who need extra help. We don't just describe effective teaching, we show it with in-classroom video filmed in schools around the country.
Ongoing assessment is critical to effective teaching, so we provide guidance for determining what each student needs and how to tailor your instruction to meet those needs. Reading comprehension is not just one skill. It's the product of all the many skills that we teach our children.
We hope the Reading Universe Taxonomy will become your trusted go-to guide and that, together, we can give more children the chance to excel as readers and in their lives. This is Reading Universe.
Special Thanks
Reading Universe is made possible by generous support from Jim & Donna Barksdale; the Hastings/Quillin Fund, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (opens in new window); the AFT (opens in new window); the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation (opens in new window); and three anonymous donors.
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Real Teachers in Real Classrooms
Reading Universe highlights great teaching from across the country, as in this video featuring Ashton Smith, a kindergarten teacher at Hope-Hill Elementary School in Atlanta, works with her students on a new phonics pattern — using 'ck' to spell the /k/ sound.
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Ashton Smith: Lemme see crisscross. We're gonna do some listening games. I want you to give me the vowel sound, the what?
Students: The vowel sound ...
Ashton Smith: And our vowels are ...
Narrator: Ashton Smith is a kindergarten teacher at Hope-Hill Elementary in Atlanta, Georgia. Today, she and paraprofessional Diamond Jones are introducing a new spelling pattern using 'ck' to spell the /k/ sound.
Ashton Smith: All right. Your next word is pack.
Ms. Smith and students: /p/, /ă/, /k/ ...
Ashton Smith: What's our vowel sound?
Ms. Smith and students: /ă/ ...
Ashton Smith: What vowel says /ă/ ...
Students: 'a' ...
Narrator:
They begin with a quick listening game and then warm up with flashcards. They focus on the sounds that will be featured in today's lesson, short vowels and the /k/ sound.
Ms. Smith and students: 'u', up, /ŭ/ ... 'c', cat, /k/ ...'k', kite, /k/ ...
Ashton Smith: Wait a minute.
Ms. Smith and students: 'c', cat, /k/ ... 'k', kite, /k/, /k/, /k/ ...
Ashton Smith: Do they make the same sound?
Students: Yeah.
Ashton Smith: Right. Okay. So how do we know when to use it? Let's see. Curvy 'c' goes with ...
Ms. Smith and students: ... curvy 'a', curvy 'o', curvy 'u' ...
Ashton Smith: And straight 'k' goes with ...
Ms. Smith and students: ... straight 'i', straight 'e', straight 'y' ...
Ashton Smith: Very nice.
Narrator: After a quick refresher on 'c' versus 'k', Ms. Smith is ready to introduce the new spelling pattern 'ck'.
Ashton Smith: So we know that 'c' says /k/ and 'k' says /k/, but I'm gonna tell you guys something new. Are you ready?
Students: Yes ...
Ashton Smith: 'ck' goes at the end of a word. So I'm gonna tell you your rule. Ready? Yeah. Immediately ...
Students: Immediately ...
Ashton Smith: after a short vowel ...
Students: after a short vowel ...
Ashton Smith: at the end of a short word ...
Students: at the end of a short word ...
Ashton Smith: you spell /k/ ...
Students: you spell /k/ ...
Ashton Smith: 'ck' hooray!
Students: 'ck' hooray!
Ashton Smith: So, can we use this at the beginning of a word?
Students: No.
Ashton Smith: Can we use this with a long vowel?
Students: No. Short vowel.
Ashton Smith: Short vowel. All right. We're gonna do some practice with it. You have to tell me when to use 'c', when to use 'k', or when we're gonna use 'ck'. My first word is cup. Let's tap it.
Ms. Smith and students: /c/, /ŭ/, /p/ ... cup ...
Ashton Smith: All right. With a quiet hand, who can tell me where is my /c/ sound? Quinson? Is it the beginning of the word or the end of the word?
Quinson: Beginning of the word.
Ashton Smith: The beginning of the word. So we need to look at our vowel. What's our vowel sound?
Students: /ŭ/ ...
Ashton Smith: /ŭ/ ... So, Noah, what letter do I need to put for ...
Noah: Uh, 'c' ...
Ashton Smith: 'c' ... Kiss your brain. All right. My next word is rock. Let's tap it.
Ms. Smith and students:
/r/, /ŏ/, /k/ ... Nalah, where does my /k/ sound? Is it the beginning of the word or the end of the word?
Nalah: End ...
Ashton Smith: End. So, it's at the end. So what am I gonna use for /k/?
Nalah: 'ck' ...
Ashton Smith: All right. My last word is kit. Let's tap it.
Narrator: With plenty of group practice under their belts, Ms. Smith's students are now ready to try spelling the /k/ sound on their own.
Ashton Smith: All right, guys. Today for dictation, we've learned three ways to use the /k/ sound. We have 'c', 'k', and 'ck'. So you're gonna have to practice that today for dictation. We're gonna be making decisions. So you're gonna have to look at your short vowels. Lily, what's our vowel sound in the word hug?
Lily: 'u' ...
Ashton Smith: Sound?
Lily: /ŭ/ ...
Ashton Smith: /ŭ/ ... Put your finger on the second smiley face line.
Narrator: This part of the lesson is called sound dictation, where students write the sounds they hear, they're practicing with the same sounds they've been working on all lesson -- short vowels and the /k/ sound, which are key to learning the 'ck' spelling pattern.
Ashton Smith: All right, we're gonna go back and read what we wrote. I wanna hear the sounds. The what?
Students: The sounds.
Ashton Smith: All right, let's go.
Ms. Smith and students: /ŏ/, /ŭ/, /ĕ/, /k/, /k/, /k/ ...
Ashton Smith: All right, guys, when we we're gonna move on to our moon line. Our moon line is for what?
Students: Words ...
Ashton Smith: For what? Lou?
Lou: Words ...
Ashton Smith: Words. Our moon line is for what?
Students: Words ...
Ashton Smith: Words. So, tappers up. sack.
Students: sack ...
Ms. Smith and students: /s/, /ă/, /k/ ... sack ...
Ashton Smith: All right. Write it. Jayden, can you tell me how to spell sack?
Jayden: 's', 'a', 'c', 'k' ...
Ashton Smith: Yes. Kiss your brain. All right. This word is gonna be really tricky, so you're gonna have to make two decisions for your /k/ sound. Okay? So listen to your vowel and listen to where your /k/ sound is. Tappers up. Tappers up. Your word is kick ...
Students: Your word is kick ...
Ashton Smith: Just say the word with me ... kick ...
Ms. Smith and students: kick ...
Ashton Smith: Let's tap it.
Ms. Smith and students: /k/, /ĭ/, /k/ ... kick ...
Ashton Smith: Good job, Tran. Okay, Noah, I have a question. Can we use 'ck' at the beginning of a word?
Noah: Yeah. Yeah. Wait, at the end ...
Ashton Smith: At the end. So not 'ck'. What would we put here?
Noah: Um, 't' ...
Ashton Smith: What's your vowel sound?
Noah: Um, /ĭ/ ... /k/ ... Wait, 'k' ...
Ashton Smith: Very good. Very good. Lemme see antlers if you've got it. Lemme see your antlers. Noah wrote 'ck', 'i', 'ck'. But we talked about it. And can 'ck' go at the beginning of a word?
Students: No.
Ashton Smith: No, it can't. It only goes at the end. So how am I gonna fix this word?
Student: You need, you need to erase the 'c' ...
Ashton Smith: Erase the 'c'. Why did you, why do we pick 'k' for kick?
Student: Because there's a 'i' ...
Ashton Smith: Because there's what?
Students: A 'i' ...
Ashton Smith: An 'i'. And what does that 'i' say?
Students: /ĭ/ ...
Ashton Smith: Very good. And let's read what we wrote.
Ms. Smith and students: sack, rock, kick ...
Narrator: After reading what they wrote, the last step from Ms. Smith's students is writing sentences. Progressing from sounds to words to phrases and sentences is crucial for learning any new spelling pattern.
Ashton Smith: All right, here's our sentence. "We pack the bag."
Students: "We pack the bag."
Ashton Smith: "We pack the bag."
Students: "We pack the bag."
Ashton Smith: All right. How many words are gonna be in our sentence?
Students: Four!
Ashton Smith: All right, get started. [Chatter]. All right, guys, we're gonna read what we wrote. What?
Students: Read what we wrote ...
Ashton Smith: So, let's start at the lightning bolt line. I wanna hear you loud and proud because this has an exclamation point at the end, so we're showing some excitement. All right? If we pack a bag that means we're going somewhere. So we're excited about it. Are you ready?
Students: Yeah.
Ashton Smith: Let's read it together.
Ms. Smith and students: "We pack the bag."
Ashton Smith: All right. Now let's read it like we're talking. Let, let's not read it like robots. Ready?
Ms. Smith and students: "We pack the bag!”
Ashton Smith: Very good. Kiss your brain, hug yourself, and gimme antlers so I know you're ready to move on. Very good. Good job, guys.
Students: Reading Universe is made possible by generous support from Jim & Donna Barksdale, the Hastings/Quillen Fund, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the AFT, The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and anonymous donors. Special thanks to Hope Hill Elementary, Reading Is Essential for All People, and Atlanta Public Schools. If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to our YouTube channel @RUTeaching. Reading Universe is a service of WETA, Washington, D.C., the Barksdale Reading Institute, and First book.
Ashton Smith: My name is Ashton Smith, and this is Reading Universe.
The Big Picture
Children across the country are struggling with reading. What can research tell us about how children learn to read? What can we all do to help more students succeed?
Timely Talks from Experts
Take an in-depth look at critical reading topics. Watch reading specialist Margaret Goldberg explain the science of how children learn to read. No registration required. Watch Julie Washington, Ph.D., offering guidance about teaching children who speak African American English at home. Watch Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan, Ph.D., discusses best practices for teaching English Learners.
Reading Skill Explainers
You Asked ... Experts Answered!
How long should students work with decodable text?
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Louisa Moats: Decodable text is a necessary part of a phonics lesson. What's the point of learning the correspondence unless you can use it in reading? So it's to provide that practice. Many students need a lot of practice using what you've taught them in a phonics lesson. It's not often not great literature; it's not for that purpose. It's for providing practice and reinforcement. So how long does it need to go on? ... Until the student can use most of the regular correspondences to read words accurately, and the student has a sight vocabulary, if you will, of probably several thousand words. Students differ. Some students can make that transition more quickly than others. So you have to keep data on the accuracy of student reading with decodable text to be sure that they have internalized what they've been taught.
Dr. Louisa Moats, author of the LETRS professional development for teachers discusses the importance of reinforcing sound-letter correspondences with decodables and how to know when it’s time to move on.
Building on decades of experience ...
Reading Universe is a service of WETA/Reading Rockets, the Barksdale Reading Institute, and First Book.
Reading Universe is made possible by generous support from Jim & Donna Barksdale; the Hastings/Quillin Fund, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (opens in new window); the AFT (opens in new window); the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation (opens in new window); and three anonymous donors.