From May 2022
Kim Lockhart, Canadian French immersion teacher and special educator in Kingston, Ontario, shares how she meets the needs of students in her classroom. As stated in a recent report, Right to Read inquiry report from Ontario Human Rights Commission, Ontario is removing the three cueing system completely from all materials and turning to reading science instead. In this episode, Kim models what an evidence-based phonics lesson might entail. In second language programs, it’s necessary for students to build language comprehension by attaching meaning to decoding.
Related Episodes
Resources
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Listen Again from July 9, 2019: A teacher's perspective on curriculum implementation is invaluable... and today, we have not ONE, but TWO teacher perspectives on Wit & Wisdom year one implementation! Kyair and Katie are funny, smart, and have incredible learner-mindsets. They discuss the engagement of their students in texts and tasks, how Wit & Wisdom provides equity and opportunity, and their thoughts on teaching with an integrated (not isolated) curricula - a shift in mindset from the way "school was done" previously. Look out for some cheesy dad jokes along the way (thanks, Kyair), and so much insight and inspiration from these two incredible educators!
Connect with Kyair on Twitter @Kyairb
Connect with Katie on Twitter @Kstoryscotti
TNTP's The Opportunity Myth
https://opportunitymyth.tntp.org/
The Wrong Way to Teach Grammar - Michelle Navarre Cleary
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/02/the-wrong-way-to-teach-grammar/284014/
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
It's our first CALL IN EPISODE! Teachers voices are so important in this reading science movement. We asked teachers to call in and answer two questions:
Listen and learn as fellow educators share about what big things are happening in their classrooms aligned to reading science.
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Crystal Lenhart is a literacy coach who developed a resource that clearly and transparently explains to families and caregivers how the school is teaching reading and writing differently with reading science research! As we head Back to School, this practical resource is a helpful tool to communicate big changes happening in classrooms and schools.
Resources
Connect with us
Visit our website to stay connected with Melissa and Lori!
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Ever wondered how to navigate the complex world of reading research as an educator? Get ready for a great conversation with education researcher Neena Saha, who reveals the role of science in education and the importance of pseudoscience in developing theories. We delve into the significance of meta-analyses and discuss the need for caution when using this method. Neena then shares some current reading research with us!
Resources
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Ever wonder how to decipher the Science of Reading or how to evaluate a curriculum that claims to be founded on it? We've got an episode just for you. Today, we're thrilled to welcome Holly Lane, a leading expert in the field, who will help us unlock this complex topic. Holly does an incredible job of breaking down the differences between research and evidence-based approaches, and she reveals what the terms 'explicit' and 'systematic' really mean.
Holly delves into the world of research design, the challenges of conducting these trials, and why correlation isn’t always causation. She shares firsthand experiences from her journey creating UFLI Foundations and the significance of field testing and teacher input in program evaluation.
Holly shares her perspective on the importance of practice in education, providing practical strategies to promote automaticity in foundational skills. She also offers pointers on how to interpret research and reports from publishers without getting swayed by the hype. As we all know, not all that glitters is gold – and this is particularly true in the world of educational research. After listening to this episode, you'll have a deeper understanding of the Science of Reading. Trust us - it's an episode you don't want to miss.
Resources
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Imagine transforming the way you teach reading. Picture your students not just passively consuming the written word, but actively producing meaning and taking purposeful actions inspired by what they've read. This is the promise of our conversation with Doug Fisher, professor at San Diego State University and renowned author, as he takes us on a journey into the depths of reading comprehension.
We question the effectiveness of common literacy programs and discuss the intricate ties between vocabulary, comprehension, and prior knowledge. How do you feel about the 'letter of the week' approach? Listen as we scrutinize its validity and dig deeper into other foundational reading skills, such as letter recognition and sound blending. We also expose the symbiotic relationship between vocabulary and comprehension, underscoring the pivotal role of knowledge in decoding texts.
We then traverse the landscape of oral language in reading instruction and the implications of isolating reading from writing. Can you guess the impact of these practices on student learning? Doug enlightens us on the significance of comprehension strategy instruction and the importance of developing all elements of reading literacy. To cap it off, our conversation concludes with three practical suggestions that you, as an educator, can apply in your classroom for immediate impact. Prepare to awaken a new perspective on the world of reading.
Resources
Connect with us
Visit our website to stay connected with Melissa and Lori!
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
What if the key to unlocking your students' reading comprehension could be found through a deeper understanding of the intricate processes at work in their minds? Prepare to have your teaching world transformed as we journey with reading comprehension expert and acclaimed author, Nancy Hennessy. Together, we’ll map out the cognitive and linguistic processes that underpin comprehension, and navigate the complex interaction between a reader's knowledge, the text itself, and the author's intent.
As teachers, we play an integral role in shaping the reading journey of our students. Witness how the Reading Comprehension Blueprint can revolutionize your instructional design as we discuss how to thoughtfully consider the task, text, and context. Learn how to integrate prior background knowledge and foster mental models of understanding. Be part of our examination of comprehension as an essential pillar of reading and join us as we demystify the science behind this crucial skill.
Finally, imagine having a blueprint that offers a flexible framework that aligns seamlessly with the science of comprehension. Listen as we delve into the importance of planning for instruction, pinpointing the key takeaways for your students, and exploring types of texts and text sets. Learn how to identify the contributors to comprehension and teach your students to become masters of their own understanding. Buckle up and get ready to revolutionize your approach to teaching reading comprehension.
Resources
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for our newsletter at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, know
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Ever thought about the power of words? Join us as we discuss our most requested topic of all time: vocabulary. We have a special guest, fifth-grade teacher Sean Morrisey. We discuss Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary words and discuss how you can strategically select words to teach using research-based approaches.
We also share the importance of continuously embedding words into language throughout the day and using data to measure improvement. Lastly, we bridge the connection between vocabulary and fluency, demonstrating how it impacts performance. By the end of this episode, you'll feel inspired to transform your vocabulary instructional approach in your classroom, one word at a time.
Resources
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Ever wondered how the fascinating world of words impacts our lives? Join us as we sit down with linguist and author Lyn Stone, who shares her insights about vocabulary and etymology. Through her expertise, we explore the powerful impact on learning outcomes and literacy development.
In this engaging discussion, we emphasize the joy of teaching language and words, with Lyn encouraging us to tap into our natural hardwiring to play with words. She also highlights the importance of developing teacher knowledge of the subject and shares fantastic resources for teaching etymology and morphology. Discover how knowledge-building can support improved response to intervention and transform literacy with Lyn's guidance.
Finally, we dive into the coolness of grammar and syntax as we reveal how they serve as outward expressions of the inner workings of the mind. Lyn shares her work on a new edition of her book Language for Life and offers valuable tips for literacy instruction. Don't miss out on this opportunity to learn from the brilliant Lyn Stone and to engage with the magical world of words.
Resources
Connect with us
Visit our website to stay connected with Melissa and Lori!
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
What if you could unlock the secrets to fluency instruction in literacy, and transform your students into confident and skilled readers? Join us as we delve into this crucial topic with Nathaniel Swain, Senior Lecturer at La Trobe University in Australia, who shares his expertise on the three components of fluency: speed, accuracy, and prosody. Let's explore together how balancing speed with comprehension can make all the difference in today's digital age, where skimming and scrolling are the new norm.
We discuss a variety of practical strategies to help students practice fluency in the classroom, such as choral reading and paired reading. Nathaniel also sheds light on the role of technology in simplifying the process of creating engaging materials. Discover how to create an environment that fosters student engagement and understanding, and learn the differences between fluency instruction in primary and intermediate classes.
Finally, we examine the value of fluency in reading instruction and how it can be integrated into the literacy block. Nathaniel explains the self-teaching hypothesis and emphasizes the importance of exposing students to unfamiliar words and challenging texts. Don't miss this insightful episode packed with tips and strategies to help your students become fluent and confident readers!
Resources
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for our newsletter at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Today we talk about fluency and assessment with Jan Hasbrouck. She shares tips and tricks for how to to best assess and teach fluency. She also debunks frequent fluency misunderstandings and explains the scientific evidence that underlies the Hasbrouck-Tindal Oral Reading Fluency Chart.
Note: During the podcast, we mentioned we would link Jan’s previous studies on ORF. But… we want to make sure the most recent information (Fluency Norms Chart 2017 Update) is the one that is prioritized for instructional use, so we’ve linked that to avoid confusion.
Resources
Connect with us
Visit our website to stay connected with Melissa and Lori!
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
What if we told you that the science of reading is just as applicable to multilingual learners as it is to monolingual English speakers? Today, we had the pleasure of discussing this topic with Claude Goldenberg, professor emeritus of education at Stanford University. Claude shared his insights on the importance of understanding the nuanced language surrounding multilingual learners.
In our conversation, we explored the essential process of teaching English learners to read by developing a bank of sight words and providing additional support alongside phonology and orthography. Claude also shed light on the research and literature available specifically for English learners, debunking the myth that the science of reading is only applicable to monolingual English speakers. Moreover, we discussed the findings of the Ehri and Vaughn studies, which explored the effectiveness of early interventions for at-risk students.
Claude also shared his advice on implementing a strengths-based approach to teaching and building student knowledge while emphasizing the importance of staying up to date with research and being transparent about what we know and don't know. By doing so, we can be effective advocates for English learners. Don't miss this insightful and informative episode to learn how you can better support multilingual learners in their reading journey!
Resources
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for our newsletter at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
In today’s episode, Julie Washington discusses how literacy learning can be supported by language variations. Reading and language are intertwined. Reading influences language and language influences reading. It’s a reciprocal process! How can we, as educators and practitioners, leverage students’ strengths in language variations to learn to read?
What if we told you that understanding language variations could significantly impact the way we approach literacy and education for African American children? Join us in this insightful conversation with Julie Washington, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, who specializes in the intersection of language and literacy. Discover how her research on language variations as a strength, rather than a weakness, can reshape our perspectives on cultural dialects, early literacy skills, and language development.
Julie brings her expertise to light by highlighting the importance of African American English in the classroom and the challenges it faces, both from the broader society and within the African American community. We explore the practical consequences of treating this dialect as low-prestige and discuss the need for students to be able to use both systems of language.
We dive into resources for educators to better understand these variations and emphasize the importance of differentiated instruction and high expectations for all students. Tune in and equip yourself with the knowledge to make a difference in the lives of your students, no matter their language background.
Resources
Connect with us
Visit our website to stay connected with Melissa and Lori!
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Secondary educators have students in their classrooms who weren’t taught to read. Because of these reading deficits, students likely have a difficult time accessing secondary texts and tasks. Our guests today, Supt. Sherry Sousa and Educator Julie Brown, discuss a secondary intervention they developed that WORKS and is totally doable. The best part? Students partake in the intervention in addition to - not instead of - their regular high school English classes.
Resources
Connect with us
Visit our website to stay connected with Melissa and Lori!
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
We talked with the fabulously candid Tim Shanahan about his recent blog post Prior Knowledge, or He Isn't Going to Pick on the Baseball Study that garnered much attention. Should we teach reading strategies? How important is building knowledge? What are reading skills vs. strategies? How frequent should strategy instruction occur in concert with knowledge building? He also weighs in on the current crisis to share his thoughts on how families and educators can best serve students at home.
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Our conversation today illuminates a hot topic in reading - skills and strategies. What’s the difference? Peter Afflerbach, researcher and professor, shares in the podcast that he and his colleagues surveyed educators and “ten people would give us ten different answers. They were all kind of related, but all different.”
Peter explains that with practice, strategies require less deliberate attention. When strategies become effortless and automatic, the reading strategy has become a reading skill. This is bound to change based on complexity of text and topic, so we learn that knowledge plays a critical role in strategy use and comprehension, too.
Resources
Connect with us
Visit our website to stay connected with Melissa and Lori!
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
We had the opportunity to talk (again!) with Natalie Wexler about tips for effective remote learning (read her full article located here), the current intersection of students' virtual learning and strategy-focused instruction (due to lack of knowledge-based, high quality curricula) and how parents are noticing! How can we teach strategies in context while building knowledge? Listen to find out!
More recently, Wexler wrote a piece titled How Reading Instruction Oppresses Black and Brown Children, located here. She ends with this quote: "If people truly understood the needless damage being done by our schools every day, they would be out in the streets demanding change." Natalie, we hear you, and WE ARE! We are shouting from the rooftops... or more accurately, shouting from the podcast apps! :)
American Educator magazine released an excerpt of The Knowledge Gap - find it here!
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
What is Phonemic Awareness? It’s one component of your literacy instruction. Phonemic awareness means understanding that spoken words are made of individual sounds called phonemes. We want students to be able to isolate, blend, segment, and more. Can it be ‘done in the dark’? Or should we teach phonemic awareness with print? Listen and learn as we explore this important question (and more) in today’s episode.
Resources
Connect with us
Visit our website to stay connected with Melissa and Lori!
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Why is teaching reading so important? Melissa and Lori have a conversation with Louisa Moats grounded in this article: Teaching Reading is Rocket Science: What Expert Teachers of Reading Should Know and Be Able to Do. Moats asserts that 95% of students can learn to read when taught to do so using evidence-based practices. In this episode, listen as we discuss and define the term science of reading, while connecting decades of research and theory to classroom practice.
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
In this episode, we’ll discuss an approach to teaching foundational skills known as speech to print. The speech to print approach consists of 4 concepts with consistent logic:
What is the difference between speech to print and a traditional print to speech approach? What does the speech to print approach look like in practice? What does the research say about this approach?
Resources
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Dr. Sonia Cabell, Associate Professor at Florida State University, shares the importance of both oral language and content knowledge instruction. Why? Oral language skills underlie our ability to comprehend text. At the same time, the knowledge we bring to a text is THE key determinant on how much we understand that text. This episode speaks to the entirety of the reading rope!
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Robert Pondiscio, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), asserts that reading comprehension is NOT a skill. Yes, good readers use reading skills and strategies to make meaning. But good readers also have a robust knowledge base. There is strong evidence to support knowledge building ELA curriculum, but we continue to wonder about what knowledge, whose knowledge, and how much?
Resources
Connect with us
Visit our website to stay connected with Melissa and Lori!
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
In this episode, researcher Hugh Catts discusses his pivotal piece titled Rethinking How to Promote Reading Comprehension | American Federation of Teachers. He asserts, “Reading comprehension is thinking with a book in your hand.” There are three factors that impact reading comprehension: the reader, the text, and the activity (task or purpose). He talks with Melissa and Lori about the role knowledge plays in reading comprehension, the interaction of the knowledge the text demands vs. the knowledge a student brings to a task, and the implications of knowledge in instruction and assessment.
Resources
Connect with us!
Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter.
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Pamela Snow, professor at Latrobe University in Australia, discusses the arguments that keep surfacing when educators are resistant to move away from balanced literacy. You might have heard a few:
Pam’s blog post, Balanced Literacy Bingo, debunks each idea listed above and more.
Resources
Connect with us
Visit our website to stay connected with Melissa and Lori!
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Connect with us
Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com
Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.