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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.

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Reading Universe is made possible by generous support from

Jim & Donna Barksdale, the American Federation of Teachers, the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and two anonymous donors.

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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, 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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Real Teachers in Real Classrooms

Reading Universe highlights great teaching from across the country, as in this video featuring DeAngela Huggins and her first graders at Burgess-Peterson Academy in Atlanta. They're working on segmenting words into phonemes.

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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?

Get the Facts
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Photo by: Sagetopia

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. Coming soon: Julie Washington, Ph.D., on teaching children who speak African American English at home; and Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan, Ph.D., on teaching English learners. 

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You Asked ... Experts Answered!

When students mispronounce a word, when and how should I address that?

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Antonio Fierro, an ESL/Bilingual specialist and distinguished reading teacher, provides a thoughtful video response to this important question. (2:43)

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Building on decades of experience ...

Reading Universe is a service of WETA/Reading Rockets, the Barksdale Reading Institute, and First Book.

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Everything on Reading Universe is free and accessible to everyone, no registration required. If you'd like to save your favorite resources, you can create an account here at no cost.

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