No reading program would be complete without a one or two sets of magnetic letters and a metal pizza pan or jelly roll pan (make sure magnets stick to it!). My favorite brand is Quercetti and they sell for around $6-$8 a set. They can be used to teach sorting, classification of shape, letter identification, and spelling. I recommend both the capital and lowercase sets. One of the first uses is to teach a child their name. Then we find all the little words that are hiding inside their name and start with those as our first words to learn how to read and write. If your name is Christopher, you can make - Chris, is, to, her, top, stop. You can rearrange the letters to make even more, but it is always best to start with words that are not mixed up. It helps develop more generalizations and helps children learn to spell and write their name more quickly. Magnet letters are also great for practicing spelling words.

First, say a word and have the child find the letters needed for that word. Do not find the letters for them, as they need to practice being able to distinguish the differences in letter shapes. Next, have them make the word. Then mix them up like a tornado… wind sounds make it much more fun! See how fast they can put them back in order. Practice at least 3 times for each word. Completed words should be said slowly each time while running their finger under the letters. We also take a picture with our eyes for the especially tricky words… making camera noises and finding a place to store them in our head. Making it fun will help them remember. Read my Parent Guide on Magnetic Letters for more ideas.

My second favorite tool is Michael Heggerty’s Phonemic Awareness big yellow book. Last time I checked it still sold for $69. It is typically used for grades 1-3. A blue book version is also available for Kindergarten. This book has a complete phonemic awareness curriculum for the entire year. Each week is sequential with different activities for Monday through Friday. After I started using this book, my students tested better on norm referenced assessments and the DRA Word Analysis skill tests. Students must be able to hear the differences in words in order to continue to move forward in their reading development. The lack of phonemic awareness is the most powerful determinant of the likelihood of failure to read. (Adams, 1990) The Heggerty daily practice takes about 15 minutes a day. Time well spent!

Systematic Sequential Phonics They Use by Patricia Cunningham is an inexpensive book I find indispensible. It sells for around $25. It allows teachers to provide hands-on, minds-on activities that help children discover how words work. You will need letter cards that you can print yourself or purchase from Carson-Dellosa. You will also need to either make the word cards for sorting or purchase a pre-made set from Carson-Dellosa. The letter cards sell for $7.99 for 12 sets. The word card set sells for $39.99. Purchasing the word cards would save you a lot of cardstock, lamination, printer ink, and cutting. I have been using this resource for so long that initially there were not word cards available for purchase. I had to make my own. Considering the time involved in making them, I would probably purchase them given the opportunity. I have also used Making Words: Multilevel, Hands-On Phonics and Spelling Activities. It is good, but I like SSP better. If you want to make your own letter cards, you can find a PDF version in the Downloads section. They need to have the capital version on the back for making names and proper nouns. Making Words Take-Home Sheets are available in the Downloads section.

The only other resource that is really indispensable is leveled books. Nothing accelerates student learning more than reading a “just right” book. A “just right” book is a book that is at a child’s instruction level… not too easy and not too hard. Not everyone can have a leveled book room from which to select appropriate reading materials. An alternative is to use an online resource that provides you with the perfect materials you need for an inexpensive yearly subscription. One of my favorite and most useful sites is Reading a-z.com. The URL is as follows: http://www.readinga-z.com. This site is $79.95 for 12 months. My little leveled readers sell for $5 to $6 each. I can only buy 13 to 16 books for that amount of money. I can get 2500 books at Reading a-z. You print them on your computer and staple them together. They are not as pretty as a published book, but much more affordable. A child should have a new book to read everyday. They should also practice the book from the previous day to work on fluency and comprehension. Themes and patterns from the daily books can be used for writing ideas.

If you purchase two sets of magnetic letters for $16, 2 pizza or jelly roll pans from the Dollar Store for $2, Heggerty’s Phonemic Awareness for $69, SSP for $25, word cards for $40, letter cards for $8, and a subscription to Reading a-z leveled books for $80, you will have a complete reading program for around $240. You can download and save all of the books on Reading a-z during your subscription year and have a complete digital library on your computer or CD when you need a higher level book to read.

Shana Whitlock, HelpMeRead.com