Building a Reader
3 episodes Last Updated: Apr 24, 25
Welcome to the Building a Reader Podcast, your go-to for teaching the youngest learners the joy of reading. Designed for the kindergarten, first grade and homeschool teachers, this show focuses on how to help you say, "Let me show you how this works." So you can engage the youngest students in phonics, phonemic awareness and reading in a way that results in what I like to call, "No teacher needed."
Join me as I dive into effective, research based, student focused teaching. You'll be looking at your student(s) and interacting with them more confidently. Your students will want to come to reading.
Tune in to discover:
*Techniques for enhancing phonics and phonemic awareness
*Engaging reading interventions for kindergarten and first graders
*Strategies for creating an authentic reading environment
Ready to transform your teaching? Subscribe to our email list for exclusive resources, check out my book for deeper insights, check out my online courses and join our membership for Building Independent Readers.
Let's make reading a joyful adventure for every young learner!
Episodes
Teaching kindergarteners can be confusing and old techniques of drill and skill and flashcards can be minimally effective.
When teachers, Megan and Danielle, joined the Building Kindergarten Readers training and started using authentic texts they started to see growth - in the phonics/reading game.
Listen as they tell us about the progression of learning they took their students on and how their students stayed completely engaged. In fact they stated, "They didn't have time to be disengaged!"
Learn
How they keep their students in the Zone of Proximal development by teaching students to constantly be noticing print
The reciprocal nature of reading and writing
Independent practices that they align to their teaching
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Building Readers From The Playground To Print: Unlock the magic of joyful reading
Building Joyful Reads
Building Kindergarten Readers training
Apr 17, 2025
Four Kinds of Learners
In this episode we'll consider the mindset of the learners that you teach. Some of them seem to approach learning with an open mind and others do not.
Today we'll talk about the four categories that helped me to reconsider the students I was teaching and what I needed to do next.
Join me as we consider
1. The knower
2. The NOT knower
3. The guesser
4. The believer, "I can figure it out."
And the three steps to get you started shifting your students. Grab a piece of paper and consider the students that are sitting in front of you.
~Jennifer
I search for Where's Waldo by looking left to right, top to bottom - because I am a reader.
I have reading eyes.
Learning letters and words is hindered by the way a child looks and hears. If they look and hear randomly while doing phonics or learning a word they will not be taking in the information in a helpful way.
In this episode I will share a new way to look at students - a playground way.
I will establish a way to look at letters and words that is more helpful. It is a way to train them. Join me as we help the youngest students to gain control of their looking at print.
~Jennifer
Resources Mentioned
Book: Building Readers From The Playground To Print