About Me

Hi there, I’m Jessica!

I’m the creator behind Primed for Primary, a former elementary teacher, literacy tutor, and literacy lead with a passion for helping young learners become confident readers and writers.

I’m a former elementary teacher, literacy tutor, and literacy lead with a passion for helping young learners become confident readers and writers. Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of working with students of all abilities, including those with dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, ADHD, autism, English language learners, and students who simply needed extra support to reach their potential.

My Story

Primed for Primary began in my own classroom. Like many teachers, I wanted engaging literacy activities that were grounded in evidence-based instruction—but I also wanted resources that worked together as a complete system. I was tired of teaching students a new game every week when they could be spending that time applying new skills instead.

That philosophy still guides everything I create today.

I believe students learn best through explicit instruction followed by meaningful, engaging practice. Once students understand an activity, they should be able to focus on decoding, encoding, reading, and spelling—not learning new directions. That’s why my resources follow a consistent scope and sequence with familiar activity formats. Teachers can simply change the phonics skill—not the routine—making year-long planning easier, differentiation more manageable, and classroom routines more efficient.

Every resource I create is designed to:

Support evidence-based literacy instruction.
Keep students engaged through meaningful, hands-on practice.
Build student independence through consistent routines.
Simplify differentiation by allowing students to practice different skills using familiar activity formats.
Save teachers time with resources designed to work together throughout the year.

I hold a Bachelor of Education in Elementary Education and a Bachelor of Arts with minors in English Literature, History, and Psychology (Child Development). I have also completed Orton-Gillingham Classroom Educator coursework and Words Their Way training, and I continue to stay current with literacy research and best practices.

Whether you’re looking for phonics resources, literacy centres, or classroom management tools, my goal is simple:

To help you spend less time planning, more time teaching, and confidently support every learner with engaging, evidence-based resources that work together as a complete instructional system.

Reviews

I was having trouble finding activities or sorts that isolated [sounds]. What a great, easy to use, no prep activity! Thank you for creating this!

Kristin C.

Great resources for phonics saved me prep time. Students were engaged.

Rima A.

My students loved using these and they had so much fun. It was easy to prep too.

Sophia V.

Just what I needed!

Lisa B.

My students loved these. I loved that there were a lot of options that could challenge all students regardless of their level. Thank you.

Amanda L.

Engaging resource. I used this to start my intervention groups. My students seemed to enjoy these.