Thinking About Comprehension

In this brief video, Nancy Hennessy shares insights into the elements of comprehension and how educators can facilitate comprehension for students through Structured Literacy instruction.

Assessing Reading: Multiple Measures

This spiral-bound book is a collection of formal and informal assessments covering phonological awareness, phonics, decoding and word recognition, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension, including the CORE Phonics Survey, often recommended as a diagnostic tool to be used after universal screening to help identify gaps. Assessments […]

Next STEPS Summer Book Study – Recordings and References

Keen to learn more about using assessment to drive structured literacy in your classroom?   Catch up with our Next STEPS Summer Book Study. Resources related to this ONlit event series, hosted by Jordan Sloan, can be found here. Each session in the series tackles a […]

Important Canadians Read-Aloud Unit

Modeled after Core Knowledge Language Arts units, this language and social studies unit is designed for use in Canadian kindergarten and Grade 1 classrooms. The unit is comprised of 10 lessons, each about an Important Canadian, with a teacher read-aloud document and accompanying slideshow for […]

Structured Journal Template

This structured journal template, based on the work of David Liben and Meredith Liben, can be used to introduce students to the use of structured journals in their close reading of texts. While this work can be started orally with younger students, this template will […]

Scaffolding Vocabulary and Complex Texts

Vocabulary knowledge must be intentionally nurtured to ensure that students are ready for the greater vocabulary demands of reading complex texts and writing multi-paragraph essays, but we need to pay attention to cracks in the foundation and scaffold our lessons accordingly, or it all falls […]

Repurposing Levelled Literacy Intervention (LLI) – Content Library

Levelled Literacy Intervention (LLI) is a commonly used literacy intervention grounded in the ineffective three-cueing approach to reading instruction. In 2022, the Ontario Human Rights Commission found that LLI is ineffective, both from external research on its effectiveness and boards’ own data on student outcomes. […]

GECDSB Curriculum Aligned Mentor Texts

Thank you to Greater Essex County DSB for generously sharing this spreadsheet! It contains sets of texts aligned with content from the 4 frames (kindergarten), social studies and science curricula (grades 1 – 6), and history and geography curricula (grades 7 and 8).   These […]

Teaching TV: Learning With Television

In the “Teaching TV: Learning with Television” lesson from Elizabeth Verrall’s five-part unit for elementary classrooms, students are introduced to television as an informative source and its presentation from specific perspectives. The lesson aims to cultivate students’ ability to derive information from media, identify and […]

Teaching TV: Television Techniques

The “Teaching TV: Television Techniques” lesson, a component of Elizabeth Verrall’s comprehensive five-part unit for elementary education, offers educators valuable insights for incorporating TV education in classrooms. By guiding students in creating their own media productions, the lesson imparts a practical understanding of how technology […]

Teaching TV: Film Production: Who Does What?

The “Teaching TV: Film Production: Who Does What?” lesson, a component of Elizabeth Verrall’s five-part unit for elementary classrooms, offers educators a valuable framework for teaching TV. This lesson engages students in exploring the world of television and film production, fostering an understanding of the […]