Wear Out Those Blue Cards

Learning the accurate, isolated sounds of English to the point of automaticity is not an end unto itself. It would be similar to learning the addition facts and never using them to solve a problem. STEPS instruction has students using the sounds shortly after their introduction to blend the sounds of nonsense syllables. Blending nonsense syllables provides practice with the left to right directionality of reading. Practicing with nonsense syllables takes away the "guess the word" inclination and keeps attention on the process of accurate, quick decoding.
The small student-sized cards are easy to use when flashing for sound/symbol retention and blending activities in a pocket chart or desk top.
Stack up the Blue Set phonogram cards in three piles: consonants, vowels, consonants.
Go through sound, sound, sound: /v/-/a/-/p/
Blend the sounds dragging out the vowel sound slightly: /va....p/
Say the syllable quickly: /vap/
Remove a card from a stack to practice blending a different syllable.
For this type of practice use only the first, most common sound, of each phonogram and remind students that the vowel opens our mouth and the final consonant's job is to close our mouth.
STEPS offers computerized blending activities and more in the online class, Fluency 101.

Reading Fluency Class!

FREE SUPPORT!----Often students have learned the code necessary to read, but they are stuck reading slowly grinding it out, one word at a time. Building fluency is the key to helping a child learn to love to read! In this FREE course, learn how fluency impacts reading comprehension and how to build it in readers of all ages.

Success! Isn't this where we heading?

If you've ever had one of your own children learn to read, you know what a milestone this can be! This little guy is in kindergarten. He's known the Blue Set of phonograms for a while, but is just learning the Green Set. With those tools in hand, he's beginning to be able to decode easy readers. But the real giant leap is when they begin to try their hand at reading all alone! He's working through an old favorite, The Boxcar Children.

To help encourage your kids to develop independence in reading, try these ideas:

• Set aside a quiet time each day. She may be too old for naps, but quiet no-TV time makes reading more likely.
• Set 2 bedtimes. Everyone's in bed by 8:00, but anyone who's reading can be up until 8:30!
• Set the stage. Stick-on lights, like the one in this photo, make even a bottom bunk a reading nook.
• Of course, read aloud to your kids, but make read-alouds from longer more complex chapter books. It's a great place to read the classics - especially the ones you missed as a kid! Bambi by Felix Salten is a terrific read aloud. Do they have to understand every word or really "get" the details? No, the idea is that they read for themselves what they can, but you read aloud to show them what's out there in the world of books!
• Take a page from New Zealand. I've never been there, but they're supposed to have one of the highest literacy rates in the world. And one reason that's credited is the Saturday morning reading time. It's  tradition that Saturday mornings are spent in bed reading. Instead of hopping up to Saturday morning cartoons, kids find books placed on their pillows by, no doubt, tired moms and dads. So everyone is expected to sleep in a little extra and enjoy some quiet reading time. So if it's not a tradition, it should be! Try it at your house this weekend.

Phonogram Video Examples

This video example is "b" from the Blue Set.
STEPS teaches the phonograms through a multi-sensory approach so students see the printed symbol, hear the sound, and write and say the phonogram together. The face to face direct instruction of the phonograms includes discussion on how it feels to produce the sounds. Pointing out the placement of the teeth, lips, tongue, and where the air flows helps students that have trouble with auditory discrimination.
STEPS Support classes "How to Use the Phonogram Packet", "Phonogram Lab", and "STEPS Teacher Resources" contain Phonogram Video Examples of all the color-coded sets.
Stay tuned to the Blog for some tips on how to prevent students from reversing the letter "b" and "d"!

Spotlight on Phonograms

phono (sound) + gram (to write)

phonogram- the written symbol of a letter or letters representing a sound

There are approximately 45 sounds in the English language. So here is where the fun begins, we can spell those45 sounds in about 70 different ways. STEPS students learn the 70 phonograms to the point of automaticity. For reading, they must recognize the phonogram quickly to say the sound when they see it. And to spell, they must be able to quickly write the phonogram when they hear the sound. When these 2 processes become automatic, students can read, write, and spell with ease.

The first STEP is to learn the sounds. Teachers prepare themselves by studying the sounds in STEP 1. In STEP 4, students are taught the letters of the alphabet and how to write them. Progressing through the STEPS more phonograms are introduced in STEPS 9, 11, 14 and 25. STEPS has a variety of ways to help teachers, parents, and students learn the sound/symbol relationships of the 70 basic phonograms in STEPS Classes.

New Twist to Bingo

This new twist to bingo has students listening to the sounds and writing the phonogram on blank PHONO Bingo cards. Let your child make game boards for the whole family. In a school setting, each student builds a PHONO Bingo board to make a class set. Perfect practice with any of the color-coded sets because it provides students the opportunity to listen to the sound of a phonogram, visualize the correct symbol in their head, then quickly and correctly write the letter.

Print blank PHONO Bingo Boards to get started.
Choose the color-coded set your child is learning.
Now here's the important part, as you build the game board be sure to say the sound not the letter names. For example, if I want my students to write "oi," I would say, "/oy/ that we MAY NOT use at the end of English words." Students pick a space, any space, to write the phonogram as they repeat "/oy/ that we MAY NOT use at the end of English words." The phonograms have to legible and neat for others to use the bingo card so it's a great way to practice manuscript or cursive writing.

Free Brain Space!

Every year when standardized test results rolled in reading comprehension scores were an area of weakness. Year after year we worked to improve this school-wide. As teachers we found out the hard way that more and more reading comprehension practice did not improve reading comprehension. It was only after trying a different approach to fixing the comprehension problem did we see gains. Teaching students explicit phonics to the point of automaticity and how to effectively use the sounds for decoding was the key to marked improvement in comprehension.
As a committee member for, The Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children, Marilyn Adams commented, “In fact, the automaticity with which skillful readers recognize words is the key to the whole system…The reader’s attention can be focused on the meaning and message of a text only to the extent that it’s free from fussing with the words and letters.”

Researchers have found that the speed with which a child can read a sentence or paragraph is a vital force in how well he will be able to understand it. If he struggles with each word, he hasn’t the necessary “brain space” to think about the text as a whole. After years of working with students we find this true even at the word level. If he struggles with recalling the sounds, decoding new words is inaccurate or very slow.
STEPS encourages sound fluency and continues to quick blending of nonsense syllables in preparation to read words and connected text with speed and accuracy. Free up that brain space so your students can understand what they read. I'd even love to save enough brain space so that they can find their socks and pick them up!

STEPS Class That Has It All

STEPS Teacher Resources is the 24/7 repository of STEPS Tools! This is the class that keeps resources covering STEPS 1-25 at your fingertips.
Join the online community of teachers and parents with access to STEPS classroom teaching aids, printable homework paper, videos of STEPS instruction, multimedia games and worksheets for use with STEPS.
Sign up or renew a class.

True Confession

Prior to understanding explicit phonics and the spelling rules that are the standard for written English I passed on the following wealth of information found in the basal reading teacher's manual, "A vowel is any letter that is not a consonant. A consonant is any letter that is not a vowel."
True confession. I stumbled and mumbled my way through the definitions without realizing their importance. An appalling lack of information about the two types of letters that build words! I can't get those students back but I am a testament that teachers should never stop their own learning process.
STEP 6 provides you with all the information you need to ensure that even young students understand the concepts of vowels and consonants. You can help them feel the difference between a vowel and consonant sound. Encourage them to pay attention to consonant sounds that close their mouth and vowel sounds that leave their mouth open. Practice stretching out a vowel sound to see if they can make it loud. Watch as they produce consonant sounds that have them hissing or spitting but truly understand the purpose of these short, quick sounds.
Take your students' knowledge further than reciting the vowels, "A,E,I,O,U and sometimes Y." STEPS Support offers classes that will keep you learning!

Going Green on St. Patty's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Going GREEN in the STEPS world means learning the GREEN Set, phonograms 27-50. This set includes common vowel and consonant multi-letter combinations that are taught in pairs. Many of these pairs are taught with the spelling rule that determines its use in a word. Grab your phonogram cards from the Green Set, click to print Free PHONO Bingo Cards, find something green to use as markers and you'll be ready. Be sure to keep the focus on the sound and not the letter names. After shuffling the Green Set of cards, the Leprechaun Leader pulls the "ai" phonogram card and says, "/A/ two letter /A/ that we MAY NOT use at the end of English words." Little Leprechaun repeats the sound and rule as he covers the "ai" on his card.
Switch cards and let your wee student be the Leprechaun Leader and call out the sounds.
Complete sets of the PHONO Bingo versions are available for the Blue, Green and Yellow phonograms in the STEPS Reading Center class, Just Games. Want to learn the sounds? The Phonogram Packet is a great tool to get started learning the sounds.

STEPS Manuscript Log

(GREEN COVER) Made especially for use with STEPS, these Logs come preprinted in manuscript lettering with page formats, dotted middle lines, and sections for Wise Guide spelling words, vocabulary, and spelling rules. 2008 Edition Logs also include a special NO Change Check for adding derivatives. For grades K, 1 and 2

STEPS Cursive Log

(BLUE COVER) Made especially for use with STEPS, these Logs come preprinted in cursive with page formats, dotted middle lines, and sections for Wise Guide spelling words, vocabulary, and spelling rules, including the NO Change Check section for adding derivatives. For grades 3 & up

W.I.S.E. Guide - all the spelling words you'll need!

Created specially for use with STEPS, this spelling list contains words arranged by difficulty level from grades K to beginning college. Words are presented easiest to hardest. Use the index to help you determine the grade levels of words. Order online today.

Student Sets of Phonogram Cards

Student Phonogram Cards are sold in sets of 25. Each 3" x 4" ziplock baggy contains all 70 color coded phonogram cards ready to pass out to your students. Save countless hours and get your students practicing faster! Order online today.

Phonics and More

Yes, STEPS does teach explicit phonics to teachers and students but that is only one of the three learning components. Keep stepping through the 25 STEPS and students will learn how to fluently blend the phonograms together. This skill is vital for decoding unfamiliar words in their reading. The flip side of that process is segmenting the phonograms to build words in the spelling process. Along the way STEPS expands students' vocabulary by teaching word derivatives. Even young students learn that new and more complex words are built from base words by adding prefixes and suffixes. The bonus for all your hard work becomes apparent when students are able to write legibly and expressively when they take pen to paper! Learn more about all three learning components STEPS in Action.

Stretch and exercise their brains!

Had a great visit with the grandkids this weekend and was reminded of the benefits of exercise! That's partly because I'm always exhausted when they go and partly because I got to hear The Cat in the Hat recited from memory. This morning I just viewed an adorable Facebook video of a friend's child reciting The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Although neither of the 2 year olds are actually "reading", in the truest sense of the word, they are practicing some very valuable reading behaviors. You'd be shocked to know that in my first grade classroom I had kids who didn't know how to open a book and turn left to right. Add that to the heartbreaking realization that they had missed all that language, all those stories, and the amazing realization that print on a page could bring delight. Brain research also tells us that the brain works much like a muscle. The more you work it, the better it works! So my little performers are getting a workout! To encourage memory development in your child, start with nursery rhymes and poems. Bible verses, songs, and finger plays! If you know of some other sites with fun memory boosters, leave a comment below!

Handwriting Dictation Cards

Pin It STEPS instruction layers and builds on previous learning as students are introduced to new learning. STEP 3's Lesson teaches the names and correct formation of the 6 manuscript or cursive strokes. Plenty of guided practice works out problems with vertical and horizontal spacing of the strokes, and correct paper placement. The vocabulary for handwriting instruction such as topline, midline, and baseline has students well prepared for the introduction of the phonograms in STEP 4. Handwriting skills are put to good use as students concentrate on learning the sounds and their corresponding symbols.

Students of all ages are taught correct letter formation along with the accurate, isolated sounds of each phonogram. The first 26 phonograms are introduced in STEP 4 with the help of the Manuscript or Cursive Handwriting Dictation Cards included in the STEPS Teacher Manual. Each set is made of strong cardstock only needing to be cut apart to be ready for whole group modeling.

The card front shows the handwritten form and the book print version of each phonogram to help students see the differences and similarities.

The backside has the complete letter formation directions. Teachers and parents can choose to read the directions verbatim or paraphrase during instruction and handwriting practice.

STEPS Teacher Manual

Now in a compact binder! STEPS Teacher Manual comes complete with the Teacher Log, a WISE Guide, STEPS Teacher Phonogram Cards and step by step directions in how to teach STEPS to one child or a whole class! Included in your purchase price is one year’s subscription to STEPS Teacher Resources and STEPS Online Professional Development! You’ve got it all! Order today!

STEPS Teacher Log

This Log contains all the completed student pages including example words
and spelling highlights .

Great for modeling what the completed page should show. For all grade levels.

Order online.

In the Beginning....Before Pencil and Paper

Breaking bad habits is hard to do! Teaching the mechanics of handwriting correctly from the beginning saves time, energy, and frustration for all. The language of instruction STEPS uses to teach the manuscript or cursive handwriting stokes incorporates important directional words, "Start at the top and pull down.", "Form the circle "left to right.", "Now make that stroke half that size." Learning to listen and follow an oral direction is a bonus of this type of instruction. You can introduce the six basic stroke names and their form with tools that only require large muscle coordination and gradually move toward picking up the pencil paper. Read how teaching the Handwriting Strokes fits into the 25 STEPS.


The etch and sketch tools, like the one in the video, are perfect for repetitive practice, removing errors, and encouraging students to form the stroke quickly. Yes, even writing should be fluent and automatic! Always starting a stroke in the same place and forming it the exact same way saves lots of time and brain energy. Just imagine how many times your little darlings will take pencil to paper over a life time!

These practice suggestions fall under the category, "How brave are you?" Introduce and practice the handwriting strokes using shaving cream, chocolate pudding, or finger paint on a table top or tray. Depending on the season you can use a spray water bottle on hot cement, write with a stick in the sand or snow, take turns tracing the stroke on your partner's back and then naming the stroke. Get creative! Share your ideas here or on the STEPS Reading Center Facebook page.

Fire Away!

Fire away with any and all questions, comments, concerns or suggestions! Maybe you have a friend that has a child struggling to read, need a suggestion for selecting books for your child to read independently, or have a funny story to share. Learning to read and write is an exciting journey.
Here is a flash to my past. Long ago as a young parent, I was anxious when my child told me that she could "read" with her eyes closed because she had a "magic reading finger"! I was happy that she was so confident but still ran to express my concern with her teachers. She was, and still is, a very verbal child with an eager to please attitude. I was reassured that all was well. Cute and funny aside, the pit in my parental stomach kept nagging at me that this was a sign of trouble. Obviously her new found skill was a weak strategy. What was missing? Where were her gaps? What were her obstacles in the reading process? The kitchen table tears at my house helped STEPS grow into what we teach today.
Parents know their child's weaknesses and strengths better than anyone. We encourage you to ask for help and suggestions based on that knowledge. We all rely on our strengths to get us through, but parents and teachers have the job to strengthen the weaknesses.
No questions are too big or too small to discuss. For complete anonymity to the world go to

STEPS Reading Center and hit the Contact link in the top tool bar to send us a note. We can answer your question or discuss the topic as a future blog post. Want to cut to the chase? Just leave us a comment here.