Newsletter – Thank You Teachers!- October 17, 2025

*MTSYS means the teacher coached the student to Make the Sounds You See—a common refrain at Book Bums.
/well/
we’ll
The letters inside the slashes indicate what the student said.
The word below it indicates what the word in the text said.

Teachers, to ensure your kids are reading well, you must listen to them read out loud—at a minimum, once every single week. This is non-negotiable.

During our Book Bums assessments, I ask children (typically between the ages of 5-10) if their teachers listen to them read. The most common answer—by a long shot—is no. It seems as though no one is hearing our students read aloud from books. So, I’m wondering how educators actually know what is going on with their students’ literacy achievement. How do they know what their kids are doing well and where they need support? How can they observe growth? How can they feel confident that their instruction matches their students’ needs?

As a classroom teacher, I made a promise to myself that every single daggone week I was going to hear my students read aloud to me. I had a grid with each student’s name; and I, come hell or high water, filled in every student’s space noting the date, the title of the book the students were reading, how they were comprehending what they’d already read, any big bad bodacious words they decoded accurately, and phonics errors they made (to guide my instruction for upcoming weeks).

At the week’s end, I noted common student errors, and I used that information to plan my next week’s instruction.

If a parent inquired about a child, I’d pull out the ol’ clipboard and share the books the student was choosing at the beginning of the year and the kinds of errors I’d noted, and then I shared the books the student was reading upon inquiry as well as the focus of my instruction at that time.

I promise you, teachers, when parents know you know what their child is doing well and that you know the best next steps for them, and you’re actually doing what’s needed to move them forward, you’ve got a partner (and a fan) on your team.

At Book Bums, until our students are equipped to accurately decode most every word in the books they long to read, the teacher reads the books that launch each of our sessions, and the students read only the words featured in each phonics lessons on the word cards, the game boards, etc. Even this word reading requires coaching students to decode with accuracy. We must know what the kids are doing well and what we need to review. We must also do frequent comprehension checks. (Decoding words with no understanding of word meanings yields very little academic progress.)

When a student decodes bookshelf, the teacher checks in to ensure the students have the correct image in their minds. It could be a question such as, “Do you see a bookshelf here in Book Bums?” The student points to one, and then they move to the next word. Quick and painless. If the word is snoop and the student is not familiar with the word, the teacher may provide a sentence that succinctly conveys the meaning. For some words, we provide an image to clarify. We relish the idea of expanding our students’ vocabularies. Ensuring student comprehension at the word level is essential for promoting skilled reading with comprehending more complex texts.

Whether you’re a classroom teacher or a tutor, you must be listening to your students read aloud. It’s the most important way to ensure your students’ academic progress.

In my classrooms, I hosted independent reading times for my students. One of my heroes, Timothy Shanahan isn’t convinced that this time set aside for self-selected reading is a good investment of time. When done poorly, he’s probably right. But when it’s done well, the time is not only beneficial, it’s essential.

Just last weekend I was invited to Lakota East’s Football game to be honored on the field because one of my former second-grade students named me as his Teacher of Impact.

It is Tyler’s senior year, and all seniors got to choose a teacher to honor. Most of those standing alongside me as the players dashed out of the tunnel were East HS teachers, but Tyler reached way back (ten YEARS!) and chose me.

He came to see me at Book Bums to present me with a t-shirt and an invitation to the game. He shared that he remembered everything about second grade. He said that I helped him to become a reader and a lover of books. That couldn’t have happened if I had just taught at him. He found books to love when he read books in my classroom, and he had a loving coach to encourage and grow him in the process.

I’ve heard of teachers, themselves, reading during their independent reading times—to model reading. Kids need a skilled, passionate, and inspired coach so much more than they need a model.

Teachers, you make a difference for good. Your students will fondly remember you and what you did for them for a long, long time if what you do grows your readers as they progress in their skills so they can progress into better and better books.

Teachers aren’t always acknowledged formally, as I was at Lakota East High School last Friday night, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be long remembered for all the good you’re doing as you’re serving kids with their literacy learning.