From August 5, 2022
Dr. Elsa Cardenas-Hagan joins the podcast to share that reading science works for English Learners. What does it mean to use evidence-based instruction to teach English Learners? Dr. Cardenas-Hagan asserts that every language has its own history, its own culture, its own use. Language supports literacy, and literacy support language. With this cyclical understanding, she explains how to use effective strategies for ALL learners.
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In this conversation, Stephanie Stollar discusses the implementation of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). MTSS is a framework for school improvement that helps to provide support for students with various needs. The MTSS framework focuses on using data to identify barriers to student performance and making plans to eliminate those barriers. Stollar explains that word recognition skills are more discreet and sequential, while language comprehension skills are more unconstrained and complex. Stephanie recommends that special education resources should be blended with general education resources from the beginning, and students should receive intensive support as soon as it is needed, without having to go through a series of interventions and assessments. She also emphasizes the importance of evidence-aligned instruction and the need for team-based decision-making in the MTSS model.
Takeaways
- MTSS is a framework for school improvement that helps teachers provide support for students with various needs
- The tiers in MTSS are prevention of reading failure, with tier one being primary prevention for all students, tier two providing extra support for students at higher risk, and tier three offering intensive and individualized support for struggling readers
- Differentiate tier one instruction and provide targeted instruction based on screening and diagnostic data
- Assessments in MTSS include screening assessments to identify students at risk, diagnostic assessments to determine specific instructional needs, and progress monitoring assessments to track student progress.
- Blend special education resources with general education resources from the beginning and provide intensive support as soon as it is needed.
- Focus on evidence-aligned instruction and team-based decision-making in the MTSS model.
Resources
- Stephanie's Reading Science Academy
- Stephanie's MTSS Course
- Watch Stephanie discuss...
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In this episode, Savannah Campbell, a K-5 reading specialist, shares practical spelling tips for teachers. She emphasizes the importance of having students say the sounds or syllables as they spell, as it helps develop sound-symbol correspondence. Savannah also recommends interleaving, which involves practicing both new and old spelling skills to ensure mastery. Savannah also discusses the use of dictation, word chains and sound boxes for spelling instruction. Additionally, she advises keeping the same routine but varying the methods to keep students engaged.
Takeaways
- Have students say the sounds or syllables as they spell to develop sound-symbol correspondence.
- Interleave new and old spelling skills to ensure mastery.
- Provide more spelling practice than you think is necessary.
- Keep the same routine but vary the methods to keep students engaged.
- Use word chains and sound boxes for spelling instruction.
Resources
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Pam Kastner discusses the connection between spelling and reading. She emphasizes that teaching spelling is teaching reading, as spelling is a higher linguistic skill that requires complete and accurate recall and memory for words. Spelling helps students understand the internal structure of words and improves their reading abilities. She suggests using instructional routines that integrate phonology, orthography, morphology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics to teach spelling effectively.
Takeaways
- Teaching spelling is teaching reading, as spelling is a higher linguistic skill that requires complete and accurate recall and memory for words.
- Spelling helps students understand the internal structure of words and improves their reading abilities.
- Effective spelling instruction should be explicit, systematic, and teach spelling patterns from least complex to most complex.
- Instructional routines should integrate phonology, orthography, morphology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics to teach spelling effectively. Direct and systematic spelling instruction is essential for students' language development.
- Spelling inventories are valuable tools for assessing students' understanding of language and identifying areas for targeted instruction.
- Spelling can be used as a teaching tool, allowing students to learn from their errors and improve their spelling skills.
- Spelling instruction should be aligned with the research and evidence-based practices to ensure its effectiveness.
Resources
- Pam Kastner's Padlet with resources (password PT2)
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From 3/4/2022
We’ve been asked about spelling and the connection to reading science more times than we can count. Today, we talk with expert J. Richard Gentry, author of Brain Words and blog contributor to Psychology Today: Raising Readers, Writers, and Spellers (An Expert Guide for Parents).
He tells us all about spelling and how it connects to our speech and language system. Moreover, he supplies teachers with practical, meaningful, science of reading-aligned strategies to teach spelling.
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In this episode, Jessica Farmer shares tips for teaching heart words. She explains the importance of blending and introduces the concept of continuous blending. Jessica defines heart words as high-frequency words with irregular or temporarily irregular spellings. She emphasizes the need to follow a scope and sequence and provides a routine for introducing new heart words. Jessica also discusses the process of orthographic mapping and suggests engaging activities for teaching heart words. She concludes by recommending additional resources for teaching heart words.
Takeaways
- Blending is the process of putting sounds together to form words, and continuous blending is a method that connects phonemes without breaking between the sounds.
- Segmenting is important for spelling, while continuous blending is effective for decoding words.
- Heart words are high-frequency words with irregular or temporarily irregular spellings, often involving vowel sounds.
- Teaching heart words should be done in a systematic and routine-based manner, following a scope and sequence.
- Engaging activities for teaching heart words include coloring by sounds and unscrambling the spelling.
Resources
- Find Jessica at Farmer Loves Phonics on social!
- Connected Phonation Research
- A New Model for Teaching High-Frequency Words
- Blending Pyramids
- Heart Word Cards
- 30 Early High Frequency Words for Beginning Readers
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Julie VanLier and Dr. Svetlana Cvetkovic discuss their experiences and successes teaching phonics. They both highlight the importance of a speech-to-print approach and the impact it has had on their students' reading and spelling abilities. The conversation also delves into the principles of speech to print and the scope and sequence of instruction. They emphasize the importance of interleaving, where concepts are revisited over time. The integration of phonics into all aspects of reading and writing is key, as well as the use of authentic text. Overall, their approach focuses on engagement, flexibility, and integration to ensure student success in literacy.
Takeaways
- Teaching phonics using a speech-to-print approach can lead to significant improvements in students' reading and spelling abilities.
- The principles of speech to print include the understanding that one, two, three, or four letters can spell a sound.
- A sound can be spelled in many different ways, and the same spelling can represent different sounds.
- The scope and sequence of instruction in a speech-to-print approach involves teaching students the different sound-spelling patterns and helping them understand the logic and patterns of the English language.
Key Tenets of Speech to Print
- Sounds can be represented by 1, 2, 3, or 4 letters.
- Sounds can be spelled different ways.
- Spellings can be pronounced in different ways.
Resources
- Julie's iReady scores infographic
- Kinder spelling phase comparisons using traditional & speech-first phonics approaches infographic
- Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction (EBLI)
- Li & Wang (2023) self-teaching meta analysis -- self-teaching was enhanced through phonological recoding via spelling
- A step-by-step pdf for k-2 teachers using FREE speech-first resources-- I especially encourage kinder teachers to take the free 1-hour Udemy course by John Walker (founder of Sounds-Write) as it includes a full scope & sequence for teaching the basic code and even into the beginning advanced code
- Ep. 147: Hot Topic Series: What is Speech to Print?
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From August 12, 2022
Talking with Dr. Julia Lindsey is like popping into the classroom next door to chat with your best teacher friend after school. On this podcast, Julia shares what evidence says that young readers need to know to help them decode words efficiently. We discuss foundational reading skills, starting with oral language and print concepts through multisyllabic word reading. Instructional swaps take this conversation to the classroom where Julia tells us what to swap to improve instruction. Efficient and effective instruction is critical when teaching decoding.
Resources
Reading Above the Fray by Dr. Julia B. Lindsey
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Yvette Manns discusses the schwa and its importance. She shares insights from her book, The Not So Lazy Schwa, and explains how it helps children understand the schwa sound. Yvette also tells all about National Schwa Day, a holiday she created to celebrate language and literacy in schools. She provides suggestions for celebrating the day and highlights the resources available in the National Schwa Day toolkit.
Takeaways
- The schwa is a neutral unstressed sound that is the most common sound in the English language.
- Teaching the schwa is important for helping students decode and encode multisyllabic words.
- National Schwa Day is a holiday created to celebrate language and literacy in schools.
- The National Schwa Day toolkit provides resources and activities for teachers to implement the holiday.
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Danielle Colenbrander and Katie Pace-Miles discuss orthographic mapping, irregular word instruction, and the different terms used to describe high frequency and irregular words. They translate research about the effectiveness of different approaches to teaching irregular words. They also discuss the role of morphology - how understanding morphemes can help students decode and understand words.
Takeaways
- Irregular words exist on a spectrum, ranging from completely regular to highly irregular.
- Different teaching approaches, such as mispronunciation correction, can be effective for teaching irregular words.
- Meaning and context play a crucial role in word recognition and understanding.
- Teachers should provide students with a toolbox of strategies to decode and understand irregular words.
- Temporary irregularity is a helpful concept for students, emphasizing that irregular words are only temporarily challenging until they learn the necessary grapheme-phoneme correspondences.
Resources
- Hear more from Danielle Colenbrander on Teaching Literacy podcast (Ep. 38) and Thinking Deeply About Primary Education podcast (Ep. 76)
- Assessing the Effectiveness of Structured Word Inquiry for Students in Grades 3 and 5 With Reading and Spelling Difficulties: A Randomized Controlled Trial by Colenbrander et. al.
- Katie's PRINTABLE Word Analysis Manual, a resource to support learning and word analysis activities to use with high frequency words (and any word, really!)
- Treasure trove of additional research articles (Katie Pace-Miles, Devin Kearns, Linnea Ehri, and more!)
- http://reading-ready.com/
Our guests mentioned the work of Lyndall Murray but meant Bruce Murray. The correct article is linked above.
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Denise Eide, author of Uncovering the Logic of English, helps us understand the logic of English! It actually makes a lot of sense... and can help your students learn to read and spell.
Takeaways
- English spelling and decoding can be logical and systematic when taught with complete phonics rules.
- All words in English are decodable when the rules are understood.
- Incomplete knowledge of rules can lead to misconceptions and difficulties in reading and spelling.
- Teaching phonics rules explicitly and fostering curiosity can empower students and improve their reading skills.
- Be open about not having all the answers and learn alongside your students.
Resources
- Phinder.org
- Uncovering the Logic of English book
- LogicofEnglish.com Free Resources!
- Sold a Story podcast
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In this episode, teacher Christina Winter, better known as Mrs. Winters Bliss on Instagram, talks about the practical application of sound walls in the classroom. She provides her top 3 tips and shares how sound walls can be used in instruction. She also provides ideas for how students can interact with sound walls, such as through dictation, chants, and games.
Takeaways
- Sound walls can be used during direct instruction to introduce new phonemes and provide a reference for students.
- Students can interact with sound walls through activities like dictation, chants, and games.
- It is important to prioritize the most common sound-spelling patterns.
- Resources and tools, such as phoneme-grapheme dictionaries and frequency lists, can support teachers in implementing sound walls effectively.
Resources
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Sound wall expert Mary Dahlgren explains how sound walls differ from word walls, why it's important to teach all 44 speech sounds, and how sound walls can help students make sense of English. She shares evidence to support the use of sound walls in your classroom and gives practical advice for implementation.
- Sound walls are an instructional tool to help students see and understand the 44 speech sounds of the English language.
- Sound walls provide a visual representation of the sounds and their corresponding spellings.
- Sound walls help students make connections between sounds and letters.
- Sound walls support phonological awareness, phonics instruction, and the development of decoding skills.
- Sound walls are beneficial for all students, including English learners, as they provide a structured and visual approach to learning the sounds of the English language. Teachers should be aware of the different phonemes in their students' languages and teach the phonemes in English.
- Sound Walls: A Tool for Students to Use by Mary Dahlgren
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Takeaways
- Start with letter sounds that are easier to pronounce and more familiar to children.
- Engage children in learning activities that involve movement and play.
- Assess understanding and retention through quick and frequent assessments.
Resources
- Find Spencer on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook or ToddlersRead.com
- Check out these videos on Instagram: Teach a Toddler to Read in 3 Easy Steps, Mispronouncing Sounds, Fourth Graders Reading at K Level Where Do I Start?
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In this conversation, Becky Pallone and Michael Hart discuss how their phonemic awareness instruction has evolved over time. They emphasize the importance of blending and segmenting as key skills in phonemic awareness and highlight the benefits of incorporating letters in phonemic awareness instruction. They will also provide practical tips for you!
Takeaways
- Incorporating letters in phonemic awareness can strengthen letter-sound correspondence.
- Teachers should prioritize blending and segmenting in phonemic awareness instruction.
- Teacher knowledge and curriculum are both important in phonemic awareness instruction.
Resources
- Measured Mom CVC Word List
- Pam Kastner Wakelet Resources: The Literacy Collection
- Explicit Instruction, Anita Archer
- Continuous Phonation Webinar, Selina Gonzales Frye
- University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI)
- Goyen Foundation Twitter/X
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Melissa and Lori just returned from the Plain Talk About Literacy & Learning Conference in New Orleans and they will share their takeaways with YOU! Attendees called in while at the conference to share aha moments and key takeaways. You won't want to miss this one!
2024 Plain Talk Conference Presenters
Podcast Episodes We Mentioned
- Episode 44: Elevating the Education Profession with The Right to Read Project
- Episode 116: Sonia Cabell on the Importance of Content-Rich ELA Instruction
- Episode150: Science of Reading for ALL Students: Intervention for Secondary Students
- Episode158: Science of Reading Beyond Phonics: The Ultimate Goal of Reading with Doug Fisher
- Episode 170: All About Read-Alouds with Molly Ness
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Matt Burns discusses the importance of phonemic awareness in reading instruction. Phonemic awareness is an outcome of skilled reading, not a precursor, and it has a reciprocal relationship with reading. Matt also emphasizes the need to focus on decoding skills in second, third, and fourth grade, rather than solely on phonemic awareness. Matt provides practical takeaways for teachers and recommends additional resources for learning about phonemic awareness.
Takeaways
- Phonemic awareness is an outcome of skilled reading, not a precursor.
- Phonemic awareness and reading have a reciprocal relationship.
- Decoding skills are a strong predictor of reading success.
- Nonsense word fluency assessments can be beneficial for assessing decoding skills.
- Avoid teaching nonsense words and focus on decoding instead.
Resources
- Phonemic Awareness, Research, Misconceptions, and Fads with Dr. Matt Burns
- They Say You Can Do Phonemic Awareness Instruction “In the Dark”, But Should You? A Critical Evaluation of the Trend Toward Advanced Phonemic Awareness Training
- RIP to Advanced Phonemic Awareness | Shanahan on Literacy
- Phonemic Awareness with Letters YouTube video, Matt Burns
- Matt Burns YouTube Channel
- National Reading Panel Report
- Elkonin Boxes, Reading Rockets
- Florida Center for Reading Research
- UFLI Foundations
- Ep. 159: Back to School: Science of Reading or Snake Oil with Holly Lane
- Road to the Code, Book
- IES Practice Guides
- Empirical Analysis of Drill Ratio Research: Refining the Instructional Level for Drill Tasks, Matt Burns (meta-analysis)
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Shayne Piasta discusses best practices for teaching alphabet knowledge. She tells us what the research suggests about teaching letter names and sounds, why teaching a letter of the week may not be the most effective approach, and an order to teach letters. The best part? She shares concrete ideas and strategies for classroom practice.
Takeaways
- Teach both letter names and sounds simultaneously.
- Consider the acrophonic principle, where the letter name gives clues to its sound.
- Avoid teaching letters of the week and consider a faster pacing for letter instruction.
- Be intentional about the order of teaching letters, considering children's names and frequency of letters in text.
- Use differentiated instruction and embedded mnemonics for effective alphabet instruction.
Resources
- Handbook on the Science of Early Literacy
- The Science of Early Alphabet Instruction, chapter 7
- Ohio State University Alphabet Learning and Instruction research and articles
- Ohio State University Early Literacy and Learning Lab
- Episode 164: Misconceptions About Learning to Read with Carolyn Strom
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Summary
In this episode, the hosts discuss the RAND Model, a heuristic for thinking about reading comprehension. The model was developed in the late 1990s by the RAND Corporation in response to a need for more research on comprehension. The model considers three main components: the reader, the text, and the purpose or activity of reading. It emphasizes the active role of the reader in constructing meaning from the text and highlights the importance of text complexity, coherence, genre, and the context in which reading takes place. The hosts also explore the challenges of measuring reading comprehension and suggest a curriculum-based assessment approach.
Takeaways
- The RAND Model is a heuristic for thinking about reading comprehension that considers the reader, the text, and the purpose or activity of reading.
- Text complexity, coherence, genre, and the context in which reading takes place are important factors in comprehension.
- Measuring reading comprehension with standardized tests can be challenging due to the complexity of the construct.
- A curriculum-based assessment approach that measures comprehension within specific disciplines may provide a more accurate and fair assessment of reading ability.
Resources
- Ep. 177: The Five Pillars of Reading with Hugh Catts
- Ep. 178: The Simple View and Scarborough’s Reading Rope with Researcher Hugh Catts Five Pillars of Reading with Hugh Catts
- Follow researcher Hugh Catts on Twitter (or X)
- A Heuristic for Thinking About Reading Comprehension, or the RAND Model
- ICYMI: Ep. 118: Rethinking Reading Comprehension with Researcher Hugh Catts
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Summary
In this episode, Hugh Catts discusses two popular reading models: the Simple View of Reading and Scarborough's Reading Rope. The Simple View of Reading highlights the importance of word recognition and language comprehension in reading comprehension. It emphasizes that if a child struggles in one area, it will affect their overall reading comprehension. Scarborough's Reading Rope provides a more detailed breakdown of the components involved in reading, including background knowledge, vocabulary, language structures, verbal reasoning, strategies, and literacy knowledge. Both models help educators understand the complexity of reading and the interaction between different components.
Takeaways
- The Simple View of Reading emphasizes the importance of word recognition and language comprehension in reading comprehension.
- Scarborough's Reading Rope provides a more detailed breakdown of the components involved in reading.
- Both models highlight the complexity of reading and the interaction between different components.
- Effective reading instruction should focus on developing both word recognition and language comprehension skills.
Resources
- Ep. 177: The Five Pillars of Reading with Hugh Catts
- Follow researcher Hugh Catts on Twitter (or X)
- The Simple View of Reading
- Scarborough’s Reading Rope
- ICYMI: Ep. 118: Rethinking Reading Comprehension with Researcher Hugh Catts
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Summary
In this episode, the hosts discuss the five pillars from the National Reading Panel and their history. They explore the confusion that can arise from viewing these pillars as a model of how reading works. The role of fluency and the importance of differentiating instruction for the five pillars are also discussed. The conversation concludes with a reevaluation of the five pillars and a key takeaway to look beyond them. The next episodes will cover three other reading models.
Takeaways
- The five pillars from the National Reading Panel are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
- The five pillars should be viewed as interconnected and treated differently in instruction.
- The actual chapters of the National Reading Panel focus on alphabetics, fluency, and comprehension.
- It is important to look beyond the five pillars and consider other reading models.
Resources
- Follow researcher Hugh Catts on Twitter (or X)
- The National Reading Panel Report
- The Five Pillars of Reading Graphic
- The Narrow View of Reading, Alan Kamhi
- The Narrow View of Reading Promotes a Broad View of Comprehension, Hugh Catts
- ICYMI: Ep. 118: Rethinking Reading Comprehension with Researcher Hugh Catts
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FROM MARCH 10, 2023
Today we’ll be talking to a team of authors about a recent article they published on small group instruction, titled Maximizing Small-Group Reading Instruction. We ask and answer important questions about small group instructional time: What is the appeal of small group reading instruction? Why has it been popular? What does the research say? What do we need to know about effective small-group reading instruction? What are some best practices?
Resources
- Maximizing Small-Group Reading Instruction (published in The Reading Teacher)
- Dr. Neena Saha’s Reading Research Recap of this research
- What Should Small Group Instruction Look Like? Tim Shanahan
- Reinterpreting the development of reading skills Scott Paris
- Applying New Visions of Reading Development in Today's Classrooms Kay Stahl
- Text Project with Freddy Hiebert
- Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Our Children’s Learning by Peter Johnston
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Why shouldn’t we level students?
Professor and researcher Kristin Conradi-Smith from episode 143 says, “We lack research for differentiation by text levels.There's simply no support for it.” Teaching with a leveled reading, sometimes known as guided reading, approach isn’t the most effective way to teach or learn to read.
Instead, we can
- Support students’ access to complex texts through scaffolds and building knowledge using language comprehension.
- Use students' prior knowledge and match that knowledge to text topic demands.
- Read text sets - a group of texts on the same topic - to build students’ knowledge and vocabulary.
- Practice and model oral reading fluency, rearead, and use comprehension strategies.
Resources
- Episode 143: Maximizing Small Group Reading Instruction
- Matt Burns F&P BAS and LLI Research
- Matt Burns Leveling Students: Why we do it, why we shouldn’t, and what we should do instead
- Tim Shanahan Should We Teach at Reading Level?
- Tim Shanahan blogs What does the Easter bunny have in common with the independent reading level?
- Tim Shanahan presentation Science of Reading Levels
- Dr. Kristen Schrauben Science of Reading What I Should Have Learned in College Private Facebook Group Presentation Giving Up F&P
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FROM FEBRUARY 24, 2023
In today’s episode, we discuss the structure and content of the literacy block. How can we teach using structured literacy in small groups? Kinder teacher Casey Jergens and author Natalie Wexler join us to connect theory and practice. Casey previously taught using a guided (leveled) reading approach with lots of small group time. In recent years, he’s switched to focus on Tier 1 instruction aligned to structured literacy, which supports access for all students.
Resources
- Elementary Classrooms Are Too Noisy For Kids To Learn by Natalie Wexler
- Casey’s Twitter Handle
- Natalie Wexler’s Twitter Handle
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What does the research say about small group reading instruction?
Resources
- Episode 142: Structured Literacy in Small Group Time
- Episode 143: Maximizing Small Group Reading Instruction
- Maximizing Small Group Reading Instruction (Conradi-Smith, Amendum, Williams, 2022)
- Differentiated Literacy Instruction: Boondoggle or Best Practice? (Puzio, Colby, Nichols, 2020)
- Meta-Analyses of the Effects of Tier 2 Type Reading Interventions in Grades K-3 (Wanzek, et. al, 2016)
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[Listen Again] Ep. 119: How Reading Science Works for English Learners with Elsa Cardenas-Hagan
1:04:10
Ep. 193: Systems to Get Better Reading Results with Stephanie Stollar
54:55
Ep. 192: Top Tips for Teaching Spelling with Savannah Campbell (Quick Tips from Our Teacher Friends)
31:18
Ep. 191: Teaching Spelling is Teaching Reading with Pam Kastner
40:07
[Listen Again] Ep. 96: What About Spelling? with Richard Gentry
56:37
Ep. 190: How to Teach Heart Words with Jessica Farmer (Quick Tips from our Teacher Friends)
20:25
Ep. 189: Kindergartners Can Read CVC Words by November: Find Out How!
41:21
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[Listen Again] Ep. 120: Research-Based Routines for Developing Decoding Skills with Julia Lindsey
1:10:55
BONUS: Happy Schwa Day! with Yvette Manns
20:47
Ep. 188: How to Teach Students to Read Irregular Words with Danielle Colenbrander & Katie Pace Miles
54:48
Ep. 187: Understanding the Logic of English with Denise Eide
50:56
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Ep. 186: Top Tips for Using Sound Walls (Quick Tips from Our Teacher Friends)
28:36
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Ep. 185: Understanding the How and Why of Sound Walls with Mary Dahlgren
54:52
Ep. 184: First Steps for Reading with Spencer Russell (Quick Tips from Our Teacher Friends)
43:01
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Ep. 183: Aligning Phonemic Awareness Instruction to Research
44:45
Ep. 182: Plain Talk Conference Recap
28:46
Ep. 181: What Research Says About Phonemic Awareness with Matt Burns
45:10
Ep. 180: Teaching the Alphabet with Shayne Piasta
45:24
Ep. 179: The RAND Reading Model with Hugh Catts
26:51
Ep. 178: The Simple View and Scarborough’s Reading Rope with Hugh Catts
24:20
Ep. 177: The Five Pillars of Reading with Hugh Catts
16:41
#1 2023 Countdown: Ep. 143: Maximizing Small Group Reading Instruction
1:05:55
Episode 176: Quick Q&A: Why Shouldn’t We Level Students and What Should We Do Instead?
3:02
#2 2023 Countdown: Ep. 142: Structured Literacy in Small Group Time
57:37
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Episode 175: Quick Q&A - What Does Research Say About Small Group Reading Instruction?
4:28