Phonics skills are foundational to reading and spelling and necessary for fluency and comprehension. All students benefit from developing these skills. However, they need a program that can be tailored to meet their individual needs. Word Warm-ups Live is the perfect solution.

Most elementary school teachers are working with a range of reading abilities. Some students are already reading well, developing proficiency and learning to read for meaning. Other students still stop in front of nearly every word, struggling to decode. Research on how students learn to read indicates the following:

  • For 5% of students, learning to read seems effortless.
  • For 35% of students, learning to read is relatively easy with broad instruction.
  • For 40 to 50% of students, learning to read proficiently requires code-based, explicit, systematic, and sequential instruction.
  • For 10 to 15% of students (including those with dyslexia), learning to read requires code-based, explicit, systematic, sequential, diagnostic instruction with many repetitions.
    (Lyon, 1998; National Reading Panel, 2000)

Word Warm-ups Live is a systematic phonics program that teaches students to decode (read) and encode (spell) words with automaticity. For students who are already reading well, Word Warm-ups Live provides a structured approach to decoding and spelling unfamiliar words—essential skills for building proficiency. And for students who need greater support, Word Warm-ups Live provides the code-based, explicit, systematic, sequential, diagnostic instruction with many repetitions necessary in order to build automaticity.

Students can work on Word Warm-ups Live exercises for as little as 10 minutes a day as a reading warm-up, or up to 30 minutes a day as an intervention. The audio-supported lessons in Word Warm-ups Live enable students to work independently. While all students in the class are working on phonics at the same time, each student is working on specific skills. Individualized assessment allows a teacher to identify a student’s specific phonics needs and assign just the sections and exercises that address those needs. The three levels offered, Word Warm-ups 1, Word Warm-ups 2, and Word Warm-ups 3, support phonics instruction for students up to fifth grade.

If you have a Read Live account, Word Warm-ups Live is already available to you at no additional cost. If you’re not currently a Read Live user, we offer free 60-day trials. Start your FREE trial today for complete access to all four curriculum options included with Read Live: Read Naturally Live, Word Warm-ups Live, One Minute Reader Live, and Read Naturally Live—Español.