The simple view of reading states that reading comprehension is the product of word recognition and language comprehension. This simple, yet powerful, equation informs both my beginning-of-the-year assessments and the reading interventions I provide for my third-grade students. Since my end goal is reading comprehension, I need to assess and support my students in both their word-recognition skills and their language comprehension abilities

During normal times, two groups of students have been at the heart of my literacy work. They are our fragile readers—fragile because they are young and just beginning to read, or fragile because they are older students who haven’t read well for years. As we navigate through these COVID years, we continue to hear messages of hope for these students.

I have often heard third grade described as the year students shift from learning to read to reading to learn. And while there is accuracy to that statement, I have found that third grade feels more like the year we juggle between supporting students who are still learning to read and engaging those who are reading to learn.

There are 44 phonemes in English, but only 26 letters. Yet, there are more than 240 ways to represent the sounds in English—whew! Sound walls are helpful instructional tools because they provide teachers with an approachable way to begin incorporating evidence-based instruction in the classroom. Thanks to Dr. Mary Dahlgren and her passion for spreading this knowledge, teachers have been eagerly implementing sound walls in classrooms around the world.

Due to learning loss from pandemic-related school closures, the next beginning-of-year universal screening assessments will likely identify a higher-than-usual number of students as at risk.

Universal screening offers a valuable opportunity for the early identification of student needs—and its power lies not in data collection, but in data use.