Week-By-Week Phonics & Word Study Activities for the Intermediate Grades

Most fluency practice is geared for the lower grades. This is a wonderful resource for middle level students, particularly those who have dyslexia or those who simply need to boost their confidence in their fluency and pronunciation. Pros: • Sound phonics teaching (aligns great with the All about Reading curriculum) • Easy to follow format. Each week is structured with (1) instructions for teacher in a mini-lesson, (2) student activity, and (3) speed drill. • Speed drills are particularly exemplary. For myself, I copied the speed drill page and put the page in a plastic sleeve. Using a dry erase marker, it is easy to mark when the student misses the word, and to mark the last work they got correct in 60 seconds. • Emphasis is on improvement, not perfection. The speed drill page has place for students to record their timings over multiple days. My student loved the competition to beat their previous scores and were often eager to retake the timed tests to improve their times! • Activities varied from “cut apart” and categorize similar words, to puzzles and word webs. • “Nonsense word” activites are wonderful to be sure the student is applying the phonics rule, rather than memorizing or recognizing the real words. Cons: • Starting week 29 (out of 35) the words for the speed drill were longer, and therefore the font was smaller, making it more difficult to read quickly. To compensate for this, when I copied that page, I increased the size and made the copy landscape. • This is the only book of its kind. I wish there were additional versions to continue this practice.

Great book for learning decoding and prefixes/suffixes

Easy to use and well researched!

We’re three weeks in with Week-by-Week Phonics and Word Study Activities for the Intermediate Grades, and I’m already seeing a noticeable difference in my daughter’s reading and spelling skills. She’s in grade 6 and has always struggled a bit with phonics-based retention, but this resource has been a game-changer. The activities are well-structured, age-appropriate, and manageable—nothing overwhelming or too “young” for her level. Best of all, she’s actually retaining the information, which is something we haven’t seen with other programs. It’s been a positive experience so far, and I’m feeling optimistic for the first time in a long time. Highly recommend for any parent or teacher supporting an upper-elementary learner who needs a confidence boost with foundational reading skills.

Excellent for my 5 year old