Beyond "Look at the Picture"

The Science of Reading (SoR) has shifted how we approach small group instruction. We are moving away from the "Three Cueing System" (guessing based on pictures or context) and towards explicit instruction in phonology, orthography, and morphology.

Here are 5 high-impact activities for your small group table that build actual reading brain circuitry.

1. Phoneme-Grapheme Mapping

Instead of traditional spelling tests, use "sound boxes" (Elkonin boxes).

• Teacher: Says the word "Crash".
• Students: Tap the sounds: /c/ /r/ /a/ /sh/ (4 sounds).
• Action: Write one letter/grapheme per box. Note that 'sh' goes in one box because it makes one sound.
• Why: This builds Orthographic Mapping, the mental glue that turns unfamiliar words into sight words.

2. Heart Word Method

Stop asking students to memorize high-frequency words by shape (which doesn't work).

• Activity: Show a word like "said".
• Decode: "s" makes /s/ (regular). "d" makes /d/ (regular).
• The Heart: The "ai" is the tricky part. Draw a little heart over "ai" and explicitly teach that in this word, "ai" says /e/.
• Why: It teaches students to analyze words, not memorize them like pictures.

3. Word Chaining (Word Ladders)

Great for phonemic awareness + encoding.

• Start: "Write cat."
• Change: "Change /c/ to /m/." -> mat
• Change: "Change /t/ to /p/." -> map
• Change: "Change /a/ to /o/." -> mop
• Why: Forces students to attend to every position in the word (initial, medial, final).

4. Syllable Type Sorts

For older students (2nd+), stop guessing at long words. Teach the 6 syllable types.

• Activity: Give mixed cards: tiger, napkin, robot, cactus.
• Sort: Open Syllables (end in vowel, long sound like ti-ger) vs. Closed Syllables (end in consonant, short sound like nap-kin).
• Why: This provides a strategy for decoding multi-syllabic words like "misunderstanding".

5. Decodable Text Reading

This is crucial. If you just taught "Short A", do not give students a book full of words like "table" and "chair".

• Activity: Read a text containing only sounds they have been taught (e.g., "The cat sat on the mat").
• The Challenge: Finding these texts is hard. Most "leveled books" are not decodable.

Solution: Use the Class Scribe Phonics Builder.

You can select exactly:

• [x] Short Vowels
• [x] Digraphs (sh, th)
• [ ] No Long Vowels yet

The AI generates a story using only those rules. This builds confidence and stops the guessing habit.

Create your first decodable story here.