In shared reading, the focus is on students reading along with you.

Choose complex and interesting text that provides an opportunity to teach a skill or provide knowledge.

During independent reading, students read to self. Teaching remotely, you will need to use text with lots of scaffolds. Students need to read a lot. Independent reading builds vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.

Focus on letter-sound knowledge during remote learning. Start with single letter-sounds, and move to diagraphs (wh, sh) dipthongs (oi, ow), blends (fr, st) and r-controlled vowels (porch, arm, curb). Also focus on letter blending to read decodable books.

Independent writing builds students’ sense of agency. They can use letter-sound correspondence knowledge to sound out words during writing. They can also use sight words. Don’t focus on perfect spelling or handwriting. Focus on the students composing messages. They will grow in their ability to spell.