I would add to the saying "when two vowels go walking the first one does the talking and USUALLY says its name." this will give the students the decoding strategy that if the vowel name doesn't work try the short vowel sound... one or the other shoul
It's one thing to teach concepts like characters, setting, and plot. Most kids get these without too much trouble, but it's another thing to teach your kids to find the theme of a piece of literature. This higher level thinking, much more abstract re