Playing POSSUM? Vocabulary and Fluency Strategies for K-2

The POSSUM strategy, pioneered by Maryann Wolf, illustrates how Structured Literacy is not just foundational phonics skills. From a young age, students need direct, explicit instruction in all areas of the Reading Rope, and that is exactly what the POSSUM strategy aims to do. It builds background knowledge, vocabulary, and fluency from the start, and when combined with foundational skill instruction, it creates powerful lessons that improve decoding and language comprehension at the same time.

In this workshop, participants will gain practical examples of how to implement the POSSUM strategy into existing curriculum, practice sample POSSUM routines using a K-2-friendly graphic organizer, and plan their own POSSUM lesson using a decodable text.

Audience: K-2 teachers, special education teachers, reading specialists, instructional coaches
Length: 1 hour
Presenter/s: Molly Bricker
Dates: September 10, 2026
Time: 4 pm
Cost: Free

Outcomes

• Identify the components of the POSSUM strategy.
• Draw connections between the POSSUM strategy and the Reading Rope.
• Practice using a K-2-friendly POSSUM graphic organizer.
• Plan a POSSUM lesson using a decodable passage.

Teacher Bio

A former classroom teacher turned literacy advocate, Molly Bricker is on a mission to bring Structured Literacy to every classroom through her work with the Chartwell Teaching Institute. Based in Los Angeles, she also runs an educational therapy practice focused on individualized student support. Molly is a member of both the Association of Educational Therapists and the Orton-Gillingham Academy. Molly has a personal interest in the intersection of early physical and language development and later learning outcomes, which informs her work with adults and children alike.