You are here
Puzzle Piece Phonics
Puzzle Piece Phonics Brings Word Study to the Balanced Literacy Classroom
Phonics can easily become the forgotten piece of Balanced Literacy, but by making word work the center of literacy instruction, other literacy skills fall into place. Puzzle Piece Phonics is designed to inspire, challenge, and support students—without creating more work for teachers. It’s offered in grade specific kits for kindergarten, first grade, and second grade.
Based on extensive research, this colorful, year-long phonics curriculum teaches K-2 learners to immediately apply phonics learning to authentic reading and writing. Illustrated, moveable puzzle pieces help students learn spelling and phonics patterns as a natural part of becoming fluent readers and writers.
Beyond its unique use of puzzle pieces, what sets this resource apart is its built-insupport for students working on very different levels. Students learn new skills during whole-group lessons, then apply them at their individual working level through the differentiated components.
STUDENT RESOURCES
The bright, kid-friendly pages of the Learner’s Notebook and Fluency Notebook give children plenty of room to practice and self-check their work. Students are introduced to specific sound-letter patterns through colorful puzzle pieces, then apply the patterns as they read and write both studied and new words.
TEACHER RESOURCES
The Teachers’ Resource Kit includes more than 100 unique puzzle pieces* for manipulation and display, an adorable full-color poster to help students match visuals to rhyming poems and concepts, and a Teacher’s Guide with lesson plans and learning activities. The Teacher’s Guide supports instruction of the phonics concepts and provides daily lessons that cover the core teaching components.
Research confirms that mastery of phonics concepts is critical to building the letter-sound knowledge students need to succeed as readers and writers. Put Puzzle Piece Phonics to work in your classrooms and discover how easy it is to make word study effective and fun.
ABOUT THE CREATORS
Carolyn Banuelos
Danielle James
Elise Lund
Puzzle Piece Phonics began when three teachers, Carolyn Banuelos, Danielle James, and Elise Lund, frustrated by the flaws in the phonics resources they used, harnessed their creativity, their curricular understanding, their practicality, and their can-do talents to design a program that reflects how students best acquire phonics knowledge. The result? A unique and engaging curriculum designed with a scope and sequence that teachers can easily adapt, and supported by student resources that encourage young learners to instantly apply phonics concepts to their reading and writing. The authors are available for onsite PD at your school!
Learn more about the Teacher's Guide
Learn more about the Learner's Notebooks
Learn more about the Fluency Notebooks