Puzzle Piece Phonics

nding, and practicality—to generate Puzzle Piece Phonics, a comprehensive word study program that works for us, meets the needs of all our diverse students, and embodies the vision of Balanced Literacy. Each of us has adapted Puzzle Piece Phonics to fit our classrooms. We enjoy making it our own, and we have seen success with all of our students. Now it’s your turn! We know the many challenges that face today’s teachers. Students enter our classrooms working on very different levels. Some students need to overcome gaps to meet grade-level expectations, whereas other students need to exceed grade-level expectations to achieve one year’s growth. We are held accountable for all students’ progress, yet few programs are designed to meet the needs of every child. Puzzle Piece Phonics addresses the expectation of providing differentiation for students. There are a variety of differentiated components including: weekly sorts, fluency poems, and Practice Pieces. Our blog and our book are also filled with ideas to customize Puzzle Piece Phonics to fit your classroom. Every classroom and every teacher is different, and no one knows your students better than you! You can make Puzzle Piece Phonics fit for you by simply switching the directions or tasks for the day. You can also change the level on which a child is working by simply telling him/her to turn to the next page. We are constantly reminded of the need for flexible groups, yet the realities of daily life in a classroom can make flexible grouping difficult. With Puzzle Piece Phonics, all children are focusing on the same weekly spelling patterns, and movement between groups can be fluid. All children have the same weekly focus patterns and can be successful either on or above grade-level. This means that a child can easily begin working in a new group the next week without having to learn new routines and content. Our goal is for all students to develop a complete understanding of the English language. Students will not memorize specific words. Instead, they learn phonics patterns as a natural part of reading and writing. They study the specific patterns that are displayed on the puzzle pieces and then apply the patterns to read and write a variety of texts. Balanced Literacy requires that word study is not taught in isolation. The skills students learn during word study become a tool for successful reading and writing all day long. We want you and your students to have fun with language. Children naturally want to understand the world around them. The more they know about word structure, the more tools they have to understand the exciting world of print. Modify the routines to make them fit for you and your students and you will watch their excitement grow! Phonics can easily become the forgotten piece of Balanced Literacy. However, by making word work the center of literacy instruction, all of the other skills fall into place. This has happened in our classrooms over the past few years, and we are excited for it to begin in yours! Happy word working,

Carolyn, Danielle, and Elise