Word Study
What is the answer? What foundational skill(s) are explicitly taught based on this question?
Sam used the wrong color, so he will _____the wall.
unpaint
dispaint
repaint
re-paint
prefixes and base word + syllables
If students are reading word-by-word without fluency or expression, then you should question what reading structure the teacher is using?
Shared Reading, Echo Reading, Choral Reading, or teacher fluency modeling.
What are 4 of the highest leverage coaching moves a leader can choose from to support a teacher?
Lesson Rehearsal (Practice)
Intellectual Prep
Video Self-Reflection w/ Practice
Real Time Feedback
What is the purpose of practicing nonsense words?
Nonsense word fluency measures a student’s ability to decode individual phonemes and then blend them together to read.
Practicing with nonsense words improves a student’s ability to ‘attack’ unknown or unfamiliar words in text.
or Nonsense words can be used to effectively teach syllabication.
If students are writing weak ACE responses with little evidence, then you should question what instructional routine is missing during close reading?
Annotation, coding the text, and evidence-based discourse before writing.
Divide the syllables in the word. How many syllables? Where do you split it?
lemon
2
le/mon
If students are mostly listening but not thinking, talking, annotating, or responding, then you should question what component of the reading block?
Student discourse and active engagement during close reading.
If students demonstrate a skill during whole group but cannot retain or independently apply it later, then you should question what instructional release model?
Gradual Release (“I Do → We Do → You Do”) and opportunities for independent application.
What are decodable books and why are they important?
The purpose of decodable readers is to develop phonological decoding skills, and this is the focus of the text construction. Decodable texts support the development of word recognition skills in three key areas: accuracy, automaticity, and prosody. Accuracy involves correctly pronouncing words, laying the foundation for fluency with targeted phonics skills.
What is the HEART letter(s) in would?
ou
Which parts are an open and/or closed syllable and why?
program
pro (open-long)/gram (closed-short)
An open syllable ends with a vowel sound that is spelled with a single vowel letter (a, e, i, o, or u). Examples include me, e/qual, pro/gram, mu/sic. A closed syllable has a short vowel ending in a consonant.
If students struggle sustaining independent reading or productive station work, then you should question what about the station expectations?
Whether stations include:
What is the distinction between a content meeting and a data meeting?
Both meetings are essential in strong instructional systems, but they serve different purposes and should produce different outcomes.
Content Meeting: Improving the quality of instruction BEFORE teaching
Data Meeting: Analyzing student results AFTER teaching
What is the difference between phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and phonics?
Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate the spoken parts of sentences and words. As well as the ability to manipulate those sounds.
Phonemic awareness is the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. This includes blending sounds into words, segmenting words into sounds, and deleting and playing with the sounds in spoken words.
Phonics refers to knowledge of letter sounds and the ability to apply that knowledge in decoding unfamiliar printed words.
What are the stages of the Writing Process? Should each stage be explicitly taught to scholars?
Pre-Write/Plan/Brainstorm
Draft
Revise
Edit
Publish
If students are struggling with understanding how many parts in a word to orally break it apart, add, or delete a sound, what resource can teachers use to support this sub-group of students?
Heggerty
If students are struggling during close reading Day 3 and Day 4, then you should question what specific things happened/not happened during Day 1 and Day 2 instruction?
Background knowledge, vocabulary instruction, fluency modeling, and first-read comprehension support.
If students can retell parts of the story but cannot explain the lesson, character feelings, or important events, then you should question what type of comprehension questioning?
Whether the teacher is asking skill-based text-dependent questions instead of only literal recall questions.
Teach words through:
✅ phoneme-grapheme mapping
✅ heart parts
✅ decoding first
✅ connected reading practice
NOT:
❌ flashcard memorization only
❌ “guess the word” strategies
❌ picture cues instead of decoding
If students are struggling to turn their annotations and evidence into strong written responses, then you should question what part of the writing instruction?
Whether the teacher explicitly modeled HOW to: CHOOSE FROM LIST
Often students are not struggling with “writing” itself — they are struggling with:
reinforcements
How many skills can be taught for this word? Name them!
10
-prefix re
Suffix -s
Identifying the base elements
Prefix in
Suffix ment
Open syllables
Closed syllables
R controlled vowel (or)
Soft e
-s after an unvoiced consonant
How are students using the reading skill and annotations to eliminate wrong multiple-choice answers and justify the correct one with evidence from the text?
Students are using the targeted reading skill to guide their annotations and analyze the text before approaching the multiple-choice question. Their annotations help them identify key evidence, repeated ideas, text structure, character changes, vocabulary, or author’s purpose so they can:
Students should be:
If students are compliant but not cognitively engaged, then you should question what opportunities students have to think, talk, annotate, and explain?
Whether students are actively doing the cognitive work instead of passively listening to instruction and/or the relationship/expectations between teacher/student as a safe space to discourse.
If a student is struggling with reading 3-5 syllable words, but knows the meaning in context. What skill should the teacher teach the student?
If a student:
Syllabication + Morphology + Advanced Decoding-NOT vocabulary or comprehension.
The student needs instruction in:
If students are struggling to write complete sentences, then you should question what writing scaffold?
The teacher should model oral rehearsal, sentence frames, shared writing, and gradual release before independent writing.