During normal times, two groups of students have been at the heart of my literacy work. They are our fragile readers—fragile because they are young and just beginning to read, or fragile because they are older students who haven’t read well for years. As we navigate through these COVID years, we continue to hear messages of hope for these students.

As teachers face the prospect of more students struggling with reading, they will be looking for proven approaches to get them up to speed. The good news is that research shows almost all K–5 students who have difficulty learning to read can gain proficiency if they receive literacy intervention developed with evidence-based, research-validated teaching practices.

I have often heard third grade described as the year students shift from learning to read to reading to learn. And while there is accuracy to that statement, I have found that third grade feels more like the year we juggle between supporting students who are still learning to read and engaging those who are reading to learn.

Who loves good cookies and what are your favorite kinds? As you know, cookies are a collection of ingredients put together following a sequence of steps, resulting in tasty outcomes.

When we teach reading, it is imperative that we get it right the first time. If we fail to do so, our students—and, ultimately, society—will suffer.

There are 44 phonemes in English, but only 26 letters. Yet, there are more than 240 ways to represent the sounds in English—whew! Sound walls are helpful instructional tools because they provide teachers with an approachable way to begin incorporating evidence-based instruction in the classroom. Thanks to Dr. Mary Dahlgren and her passion for spreading this knowledge, teachers have been eagerly implementing sound walls in classrooms around the world.