Introduction

Introduction

In the fall of 2022, I was tasked with teaching an Intensive English Phonics and Fluency Class. I had years of experience teaching native speakers how to become fluent readers, so I thought this class would be no problem. Boy, was I wrong!!! First, I did not want my students to buy a high-priced textbook for which I would probably heavily supplement anyway. The class I was teaching was designed as a laboratory support class, so the cost was a definite concern. As a result, I started to explore Open Educational Resources (OER). A major obstacle I encountered was a lack of materials. Everything that I found looked as though it was created for kindergartners–because it was! There were little to no resources for adults in the area of phonics and fluency. So, I decided to create my own resources.

This process has not been without its challenges. As all teachers know when designing a lesson (and, in this case, a curriculum), sometimes things don’t work the way you planned, and you have to scrap them and start over. I went through this process multiple times, but I have produced a full curriculum that is sequential in nature, user-friendly for teachers and students, and can be adapted as necessary.

Although when initially looking at this “book” or “curriculum”, one might think it doesn’t contain enough content, rest assured–it does! As a hyperbook, each link directs users to another page or activity to improve skills. I hope you find that this curriculum is a treasure trove of activities for teaching and learning! Be careful as you “fall through the rabbit hole”; you just might be stuck there for a while!!!