Welcome to Building Blocks for Pre-K–5
Enjoy weekly content rich with expert insights, teaching tips, and effective strategies curated to inform and empower educators
Blogs
Literacy, Announcements
Decodable books allow readers to immediately apply their letter/sound skill knowledge to connected texts. But not all decodable books are created equal.
7 mins
Teaching Tips
While the long vacation can provide much-needed rest and relaxation, it’s important to provide proper support to keep their skills sharp and their learning on the right path to avoid losing progress.
6 mins
Home Connection, Families, Teaching Tips
By engaging in learning activities that encourage literacy skill building, students can avoid summer slide, and even make gains.
6 mins
Teaching Tips
Educators know that every minute of class time is precious, especially for time spent on literacy. Yet sometimes, the conversation about how to make use of those limited minutes can feel overwhelming.
4 mins
Teaching Tips
In the current moment of ensuring our literacy practices are evidence-based, we can’t forget that children learn to read best when they’re having fun—when the experience is awesome.
6 mins
Teaching Tips
Students often lose the learning gains they’ve made over the school year while on summer break, studies show. The summer learning loss phenomena, unfortunately, can be one of the downfalls of a restful vacation.
5 mins
Teaching Tips
Poetry—with its economy of language and endless possibilities—injected joy and agency into the process of writing about reading.
4 mins
Literacy
In today's educational environment, the paraprofessional role, also known as a teacher's aide or assistant, cannot be overstated.
6 mins
Teaching Tips
Read-alouds are like Triple Crown winners. In a few short minutes, they affirm student identities, nourish the class community, and nudge along a wide range of academic skills.
6 mins