Alphabet Knowledge: The Root of Reading

Chelsea Mytko and Nathan Reist

• Research suggests that knowledge of letter names and sounds is predictive of early reading success.
• Joyful Literacy Interventions has proven that 85% of all kindergarten children can master alphabet knowledge with proven interventions giving them a strong entry to kindergarten.
• Addressing: order of skills, capital vs lower case, using names, letter sound correspondence, sounds and writing, the alphabetic principle and decoding.

Phonologic Awareness (PA): Perceiving and Manipulating the Sounds of Language

Chelsea Mytko and Nathan Reist

• Research suggests that PA abilities exist on a continuum from simple to complex.
• Joyful Literacy Interventions has proven that PA skills can be mastered playfully in the dark - without knowledge of individual letter-sound relationships.
• Addressing: making PA playful, using songs as a teaching tool, order of skills, using broader oral language skills - no writing or letters required.

Reading Fluency: Daily Joy, Practice and Prosody

Dr. Dianne Bassendowski

• Research suggests that with a daily fluency classroom program we can increase overall reading proficiency to decrease numbers of struggling students.
• Joyful Literacy Interventions proven that daily fluency instruction and performances can raise not only reading levels but enthusiasm, pride and joy of reading.
• Addressing: fluency skills acquired, a daily and weekly plan, perfect poems for class read-alouds, incorporating practice of Foundational Skills with joyful performances.

Ramped Up Read Alouds: Build Knowledge and Boost Comprehension

Dr. Maria Walther

• Research suggests hatred clouds model accurate fluent reading, develop vocabularies and comprehension skills.
• Joyful Literacy Interventions have proven that interactive read aloud can increase listening comprehension and build knowledge about multiple topics.
• Addressing: presentation of lists of hundreds of picture books to enrich and extend literacy instruction with many practical ideas.

Word Study: Integrating Sound, Spelling and Meaning

Chelsea Mytko and Nathan Reist

• Research suggests a strong connection between direct instruction in decoding (phonics) encoding (spelling) and vocabulary (word meaning) as significant factors in learning to read.
• Joyful Literacy Interventions has proven that starting word study in kindergarten at the same time as alphabet knowledge will accelerate reading level success.
• Addressing: Integrating content words, high frequency words, heart words, orthography, memory AND concept development, word structure, word sorts and word families.