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The Colorful Classroom

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Understanding Dyslexia: Raising Awareness and Building Support

Understanding Dyslexia: Raising Awareness and Building Support

Key Takeaways from Lexia’s LETRS Applied Inaugural Conference

Key Takeaways from Lexia’s LETRS Applied Inaugural Conference

Guest on the Stellar Teacher Podcast: Evidence-Based Strategies for Building Student Vocabulary

Guest on the Stellar Teacher Podcast: Evidence-Based Strategies for Building Student Vocabulary

Guest on the Route 2 Reading Podcast: Building Background Knowledge

Guest on the Route 2 Reading Podcast: Building Background Knowledge

Guest Blog Post for Campbell Creates Readers: Teaching Phonemic Awareness with Letters

Guest Blog Post for Campbell Creates Readers: Teaching Phonemic Awareness with Letters

What is the Science of Reading?

What is the Science of Reading?

Guest on The Literacy Dive Podcast: Orthographic Mapping – What It Is and  How You Can Use It In Your Reading Instruction 

Guest on The Literacy Dive Podcast: Orthographic Mapping – What It Is and How You Can Use It In Your Reading Instruction 

Guest on the Stellar Teacher Podcast: Understanding Phonological and Phonemic Awareness

Guest on the Stellar Teacher Podcast: Understanding Phonological and Phonemic Awareness

Spelling Long A Vowel Teams like a champ: Is it AI or AY?

Spelling Long A Vowel Teams like a champ: Is it AI or AY?

do-you-know-the-definition-confer-when-it-comes-to-literacy-instruction

Do you know the definition confer when it comes to literacy instruction?

Why Orthographic Mapping is Important when Teaching High Frequency Words

Why Orthographic Mapping is Important when Teaching High Frequency Words

Brightly colored sticky notes with the heading "How to Teach Reading Strategies like a Boss by Implementing Tangible Takeaways"

How to Teach Reading Strategies like a Boss by Implementing Tangible Takeaways

Latest on Instagram

I say this with love… because I know so many edu I say this with love… because I know so many educators feel the same way.

Most of us left college knowing how to lesson plan, perhaps manage a classroom, and even write objectives.

But very few of us were taught how to actually teach a child to read & build that reading circuit in the brain. 

I certainly wasn’t.

(Drop a 😤 if you want a refund!)

Learning those things completely changed the way I teach reading. 

Sarah and I even created a free guide outlining “5 Things We Wish We’d Learned Before We Started Teaching Reading”!

If you’re interested in a few perspective shifts that make the English language finally click…

👇 Comment BEYOND and we’ll send it straight to your inbox.

Also curious: Did your teacher prep program actually teach you how to get kids reading? What was your experience like? ⬇️

#beyondphonics #logosliteracyacademy #structuredliteracy #scienceofreading #elementaryteachers
Let’s talk about the science of reading hot topi Let’s talk about the science of reading hot topics that seem to spark endless debates.

You know the ones:
⚪️Sight Words: memorization, heart words, using etymology 
⚪️Oral-only Phonemic Awareness
⚪️An Orton Gillingham Approach vs. Linguistic Phonics (Speech to Print)
⚪️Potentially Overdoing Phonics 
⚪️Decodables vs. Authentic Text (and WHEN to use more complex text)
⚪️Sound Walls & Mouth Pictures
⚪️Teaching Syllable Types and Division Rules
…and more!!!

This conversation, with my dear friend Anna Geiger of @reachallreaders unpacks the nuance with an incredibly objective perspective.

This is one episode you will NOT want to miss! 

Comment SCIENCE for a link to listen! 🎧 

…and be sure to come back and share your thoughts in the comments! 💭 

✨One more treat!✨
This podcast is brought to you by Reading Science Academy (@readingscienceacademy), where our friend Stephanie Stollar is giving Literacy in Color listeners an exclusive, free grouping resource bundle to help you turn fall screening data into skill-based groups that actually move students forward.

#literacyincolorpodcast #podcastforteachers #scienceofreading #structuredliteracy
🎉 GIVEAWAY TIME! 🎉 I’m so excited to part 🎉 GIVEAWAY TIME! 🎉

I’m so excited to partner with @expressreaders to give ONE lucky teacher a classroom set of their decodable books! 📚✨

If you’re looking for engaging, carefully controlled decodable texts to support beginning readers, this is your chance!

To enter:
✅ Like this post ❤️
✅ Follow @michelle_thecolorfulclassroom and @expressreaders
✅ Comment below: How would these books transform your literacy instruction?

📦 Winner must have a U.S. mailing address.

I’ll randomly select one winner and announce them on Friday, July 24th, 2026 at 12pm noon ET!

Good luck! 🍎📖

#teachergiveaway #expressreaders #decodablebooks #structuredliteracy #teachersofinstagram
📖 I bet half of you read this word differently. 📖 I bet half of you read this word differently.

If you read it one way… you were right.
If you read it the other way… you were right too. 😆

So how do readers know which pronunciation to use in these cases?

👉 Context.

Same spelling.
Different pronunciation.
Different meaning.
Even a different grammatical role.

Reading isn’t just about matching letters to sounds. Skilled readers are constantly integrating the spelling and meaning to determine how a word should be read… especially inside connected text!

💬 Your turn! Can you think of another word that changes pronunciation depending on its meaning?

Drop it in the comments! ⬇️

—And if you like this content, be sure to follow me (@michelle_thecolorfulclassroom ) & @logosliteracyacademy where we’re wild about words! 

#beyondphonics #logosliteracyacademy #syntax #context #syllablestress
When a kiddo gets stuck on a word, a lot of us hav When a kiddo gets stuck on a word, a lot of us have a default prompt: “Sound it out.”

Sometimes that’s exactly what a student needs.

Sometimes they need a different lens. Truthfully, skilled readers don’t rely on just ONE strategy.

So, I’m curious: on a scale from 💃🏻 to 😫, drop an emoji to show how comfortable you feel prompting students through an unfamiliar word!

Then, let’s brainstorm together!
👉 What’s a go-to prompt when a student gets stuck?
Let’s build a bank in the comments! 🙌🏼

Be sure to save this and follow us @logosliteracyacademy — because that’s exactly what we (Sarah & Michelle) love to support you through inside our community!

We’re so happy you’re here! 🩵🩷💛

#beyondphonics #logosliteracyacademy #teachersofinstagram #structuredliteracy #teacherssupportingteachers
The COLORFUL Classroom sure does sound cute… 💁🏻‍♀️

…but did you know, there’s a deeper meaning behind it? 

Comment BLOG to read my guest blog post on the @voyagersopris EdView360 platform about what truly makes a COLORFUL classroom. 🤍

💭—and then come back and share your thoughts! I always love to hear what resonated with you! 

#voyagersopris #edview360 #logosliteracyacademy #morphology meaningmatters
@scienceofreadingminicon was 3️⃣ weeks ago, an @scienceofreadingminicon was 3️⃣ weeks ago, and I’m still running on JOY! 

Double tap for some MiniCon love — and if you attended, share one of your favorite moments! 🩷

© 2026 The Colorful Classroom • Becca Paro Design Co.

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