Episode 239 

Experts Doug Lemov, Colleen Driggs, and Erica Woolway join Melissa & Lori to tackle one of the biggest questions in teaching today: What happened to reading whole books in school? From the pull of digital distractions to the rise of skill-focused instruction, they explore why diving into full texts matters more than ever. You’ll hear inspiring ideas for making books come alive in the classroom, the magic of read-alouds, and the power of close reading. Plus, each guest reveals their favorite book to teach. Reading entire books ignites curiosity, builds stamina, and so much more.

Resources

• The Teach Like A Champion Guide to the Science of Reading (book)
• Teach Like A Champion (Website - Resources, Workshops, Blogs, & More!)
• Close Reading: Uncover Deeper Meaning (blog)
• The Indispensable Power of [Full] Books  (blog)
• Melissa & Lori Podcast Knowledge & Comprehension (Daniel Willingham & Barbara Davidson)

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

Episode 238 

What if the “secret sauce” to reading big words isn’t just syllables, but also morphemes? In this episode, Melissa Orkin and Alex Osburn share why morphology is essential, especially in grades 3–6, and how it bridges word reading, vocabulary, and comprehension.

They dig into practical strategies for teaching morphology, from explicit routines to vocabulary activities like the Frayer model, and show how to weave it all into real texts so students connect meaning to print in powerful ways. You’ll hear how morphology instruction can be integrated with content areas, supported by oral language practice, and used to spark stronger engagement and deeper learning.

Resources Mentioned

• Video of the Lesson highlighted in the episode. From Morphology Anthology: Volume 3, Lesson 3: The Secret Lives of Rainforest Insects.
• Book: The Structured Literacy Playbook: Preplanned Lessons for Building Phonics and Fluency Skills 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

Episode 230

In this episode, we discuss this article and the vital role of difficult texts with three experts: Kristin Conradi-Smith, John Strong, and Steve Amendum. They explore how thoughtful scaffolding and motivation help students confidently tackle challenging materials, clarifying the difference between text complexity and text difficulty. 

Listeners will hear practical strategies for assessing student needs and differentiating instruction, ensuring every learner can thrive. We also discuss key literacy components including activating prior knowledge, the importance of decodable texts in early grades, and the power of read-alouds for K-1 students. 

Drawing from research, expert guests highlight ongoing developments in understanding text complexity and stress the need for strong professional learning opportunities to equip educators with effective tools. This conversation is packed with insights and actionable ideas for supporting diverse learners on their reading journeys.

Resources

• Supporting Elementary Students' Reading of Difficult Texts 
• Read, Stop, Write Intervention
• Text Structures PDF Cheat Sheet
• Check out our guests' in this book, Handbook on the Science of Literacy in Grades 3-8 (John - Chapter 20; Kristin & Steve - Chapter 8)  
• Kristin's Article - It's not just about skills: Adopting a motivation-informed approach to instruction with adolescents 
• Listen to No More Strategy of the Week and read the article that inspired the podcast.  

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

FROM JULY 14, 2023

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

• Think Forward Educators
• Five Ways to Focus on Fluency, Think Forward Educators Blog 
• Fluency Rubric, Tim Rasinski
• Readers Theater Scripts, Chase Young
• Fluency Resources, Tim Rasinski 
• Nathaniel Swain on Writing to Learn, ERRR Podcast

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

Funds of Knowledge are the skills and knowledge gained by daily routines and practices, as well as cultural and historical interactions. It’s the social and cultural “stuff” that students know through personal experiences.  

Background knowledge is the amount of information or knowledge someone has on a topic. Both funds of knowledge and background knowledge give us connection points for learning, and they’re both considered types of prior knowledge. 

So what does this mean for instruction? 

We should leverage our students' - and families’ - funds of knowledge when possible. We can use students' funds of knowledge and continue to build background knowledge on topics of study. 

Resources

• Episode 170: All About Read-Alouds with Molly Ness  
• Funds of Knowledge Toolkit from Washington state 
• Funds of Knowledge for Teaching

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

FROM AUGUST 4, 2023

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

• The Reading Comprehension Blueprint From The Reading Comprehension Blueprint by Nancy Lewis Hennessy. Copyright © 2021 by Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved
• Expert Minute Video-Thinking about Comprehension: Nancy Hennessy
• Rethinking How to Promote Reading Comprehension, American Federation of Teachers by Hugh Catts
• Ep. 118 Rethinking Reading Comprehension with Researcher Hugh Catts, podcast
• AIM FCRR Background Knowledge Research 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

Are You Adopting a New ELA Curriculum? Where Do You Start?

One place to start your curriculum adoption journey is EdReports. It’s not the ONLY place by any means, but it is a helpful jumping off point. EdReports asks educator-led review teams to use specific criteria to tell if a curricula meets, partially meets, or does not meet expectations. They review ELA, math, and science curricula and provide public reports with detailed insight into the materials.

Resources

• EdReports.org 
• EdReports.org: Science of Reading Snapshots 
• A Closer Look at the Five Essential Components of Effective Reading Instruction 
• National Reading Panel - Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Readin 
• The Reading League Curriculum Evaluation Guidelines 
• Knowledge Matters Review Tool 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

From October 21, 2021

Kory Jensen is a 4th grade teacher in Colorado, obsessed with learning more about reading science! He read The Knowledge Gap by Natalie Wexler… which set him off to learn more about knowledge building. 

On today’s podcast, he talks about how background knowledge impacts his students’ comprehension and engagement (spoiler alert: they love going deep into topics!). He provides real-life examples and ways to supplement knowledge on topics through experiences, experiments, texts, videos, and more. Kory’s optimism shines through and we can’t get enough of his lifelong learner spirit. “When you build knowledge and give students opportunities to learn, you’ll be impressed by what they can do.” Thanks, Kory! 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

A curriculum evaluation tool that helps teachers, leaders, and parents, determine if a curriculum meets high quality standards or not. 

There are two tools we recommend for curriculum review. These tools feel complementary to each other, so we recommend using both, starting with The Reading League’s Curriculum Evaluation Guidelines, then digging deeper into the knowledge component of a curriculum with the Knowledge Matters Review Tool. 

Resources

• The Reading League Curriculum Evaluation Guidelines 
• Knowledge Matters Review Tool 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

Today we talk to educator and author Molly Ness about intentionally planning for read-alouds. Molly will share an easy to prepare protocol for a read-aloud in any grade level or content area. 

Resources

• Molly's Website - purchase her book! 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

What is a read aloud?

It is very common to see early childhood and elementary school teachers reading aloud to their students. But what exactly is happening during this time? 

In episode 170, we talk with author and professor, Molly Ness about read alouds. We share her definition along with what to look for in a read aloud and the benefits of read alouds for all learners!

Check out Molly's book: Read Alouds for All Learners

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

From July 30, 2021

To connect with a practitioner lens, Duke (alongside Ward & Pearson) also penned The Science of Reading Comprehension Instruction. They ask the question: What have decades of research told us about the nature of comprehension and how to develop students’ comprehension in schools? Listen to find out!

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

What is dysgraphia? 

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association defines dysgraphia as referring to difficulty with either language or spelling-based aspects of writing.  Dysgraphia impairs letter writing by hand, which can affect spelling, learning to spell words, the speed of writing, reading word recognition, comprehension, and writing processes and products. 

Resources

• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Disorder of Reading and Writing 
• International Dyslexia Association Understanding Dysgraphia

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

Episode 229

In this episode, Katie Pace Miles and Molly Ness define and explain orthographic mapping as a crucial cognitive process for reading fluency and comprehension. They discuss the importance of mapping words in long-term memory, the difference between memorization and mapping, and the trifecta of phonology, orthography, and meaning that supports effective word learning. 

They share a four-step protocol from their new book, Making Words, Stick, for supporting orthographic mapping. They provide insights into effective teaching strategies and resources available for educators.

Resources

• Making Words Stick - Molly & Katie’s book! 
• Making Words Stick One Pager - Preview the Big Ideas in the book! 
• Katie’s Non-Profit - Readinginstitutenyc.org
• Rosenthal & Ehri 2008 Study 
• The Science of Learning to Read Words - Ehri 
• Grapheme-Phoneme Knowledge - Ehri 
• Laura Steacy’s research 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

Today talk to researcher Tiffany Hogan about language comprehension. We’ll start with the Simple View of Reading, exploring the relationship between phonics and language comprehension. Then we’ll discuss knowledge as the result of systematic and explicit language comprehension instruction and share approaches that work in the classroom - like read-alouds and discourse. 

Tiffany P. Hogan, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston, Director of the Speech and Language (SAiL) Literacy Lab and the center for translational research, implementation science, and dissemination for equity in CSD, (cTIDE), Research Associate at Harvard University, and inaugural research affiliate for the Boston University Center for Anti-Racist Research. 

Resources Mentioned in this Episode 

• ASHA Voices on Apple Podcasts
• On the Importance of Listening Comprehension  
• If you don't look, you don't see: Measuring language development to inform literacy instruction
• List of commercially available Developmental Language Disorder (DLDP) Screeners
• DLDandme.org
• RADLD.org
• Understanding Dyslexia in the Context of Developmental Language Disorder
• Increasing Higher Level Language Skills to Improve Reading Comprehension
• Adapting Curricula for Children with Language Comprehension Deficits
• Five ways SLPs (and others) can positively impact children with dyslexia
• A generic implementation framework for school-based research and practice
• 'We test, not teach, comprehension' Jeanne Chall: 
• CUBED free assessment and progress monitoring for decoding, language, and reading
• Executive functions and morphological awareness explain the shared variance between word reading and listening comprehension Young-Suk Kim 
• “the acquisition of an alphabetic code is like catching a virus… this virus infects all speech processing… Language is never the same again” Uta Frith 

• Twitter: @tiffanyphogan
• Web: http://www.mghihp.edu/sail-lab/
• Facebook: sailliteracylab
• Insta

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

What is Developmental Language Disorder, or DLD?

Developmental Language Disorder is a brain-based neurodevelopmental diversity - such as autism or dyslexia or dysgraphia. Students with DLD are six times more likely to have reading difficulties. DLD is a brain variation that makes it difficult to learn language from the environment. 

Resources

• New IDEA Guidance Includes Developmental Language Disorder as a Qualifying Category by Tiffany P. Hogan, Kelly Farquharson, Karla McGregor
• DLD and Me Educator Fact Sheet 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

From October 7, 2022

In this episode, we talk with former balanced literacy teacher and parent, Missy Purcell. She authored a blog post titled Dear Balanced Literacy Teacher.

Missy writes, “According to Nancy Young’s ladder of reading, roughly 10-15% of kids can figure out reading out with this type of instruction, but my child, who would later be diagnosed with dyslexia, would never be able to become a proficient reader with any version of balanced literacy. He, according to Young, like 85% of students, benefit from or need systematic explicit instruction that follows a scope and sequence with fidelity to become proficient readers and writers.”

We want to normalize the idea that most kids CAN learn how to read with structured literacy instruction. 

Resources

• Dear Balanced Literacy Teacher 
• Looking for Heroes: One Boy, One Year, 100 Letters 2nd Edition
• These resources from the International Dyslexia Association are helpful to spread the word on social media about October as Dyslexia Awareness Month! 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

Nadine Gaab, Associate Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, joins us on the podcast to talk about how brains learn to read. Reading development starts in utero because the fundamental milestones for learning to read are sounds and language processing. Brain research shows us the brain of children learning to read is different in struggling readers. Dr. Gaab debunks dyslexia myths and connects the importance of early screening and intervention for dyslexia.  

Resources

• Dyslexia Myths GaabLab.com 
• The Truth About Reading Documentary Trailer 
• How Can We Ensure That Every Child Will Learn to Read? The Need for a Global, Neurodevelopmental Perspective - International Dyslexia Association 

Connect with us!

• Facebook and join our Facebook Group 
• Twitter 
• Instagram 

Visit our website to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. 

Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum. 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

From September 30, 2022

Dr. J. Richard Gentry, Dyslexia Expert and the “Guru of Spelling,” joins us on the podcast today to discuss dyslexia. Dyslexia is a specific learning disability, neurobiological in origin. It’s the #1 reading disability that manifests itself in a continuum. People with dyslexia have difficulty in accurate fluent reading,  spelling, and decoding abilities. Dr. Gentry shares his personal story of overcoming dyslexia, how dyslexia affects people, and how teachers can help students with dyslexia in the classroom. 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

Ever wondered why reading isn't as natural as speech? Carolyn Strom, an accomplished early literacy expert, reveals that unlike speech, reading doesn't come naturally. In fact, it requires well-structured, explicit instruction which we'll discuss in this episode.

The importance of a structured approach to teaching reading cannot be understated. We'll be taking a deep look at the role of decodable texts, progress monitoring, phonemic awareness activities, and the necessity of a proper scope and sequence. And for those who believe that word memorization is the ultimate key to learning to read, prepare to have that myth debunked. Carolyn introduces the concept of mapping – associating the visual form of a word with its sounds and meaning, a vital aspect in learning to read.

As we delve further into the episode, we look into how critical practice and spoken language are in the reading process. Discover how word games can transform skill drills into an engaging and exciting experience for kids. We also have valuable insights for those working with bilingual or multilingual learners, as we discuss the significance of building spoken language and conceptual knowledge, which play a major role in comprehension. Finally, we'll discuss creating a conducive environment for students to learn and provide resources for further exploration. Join us for this captivating and educational journey into the world of early literacy.

Resources 

• UFLI Foundations 
• Letterland 
• Spelfabet 
• Stay connected with Carolyn! 
• Stanislas Dehaene, How the Brain Learns to Read (book)
• Maryanne Wolf, Proust and the Squid (book)

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

Resources

• CleverNoodle
• International Dyslexia Association
• Gaab Lab 
• Student Achievement Partners
• EdReports.org 
• The Reed Charitable Foundation
• LETRS Training

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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

• Ep. 63: Kindergarten Teacher Reaches 100% Success Using Evidence-Based Practices 
• Ep. 59: HQIM for ALL with Educator Sarah Webb
• HQIM as EQUITY for English Language Learners with  ELSF Executive Director Crystal Gonzales

Resources

• The Right to Read Inquiry Report from Ontario Human Rights Commission
• The Simple View of Reading (SVR)

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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/

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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: 

1. What is the most important thing you've learned so far about the science of reading?
2. What is a goal you have this year connected to reading science?

Listen and learn as fellow educators share about what big things are happening in their classrooms aligned to reading science. 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

Episode 228 

If you’ve ever wondered how to help your students decode longer words, this episode is for you! We’re joined by literacy researcher and professor Devin Kearns to talk all about teaching multisyllabic words.

Many phonics programs focus on single-syllable words, but what happens when students hit big words and get stuck? Devin unpacks the research behind why that happens and what we can do instead. We talk about:

• flexible decoding strategies,
• when and how to teach syllables and morphemes,
• and what “set for variability” really looks like in the classroom (spoiler: it’s not guessing!).

You’ll walk away with practical, research-backed ideas to help your students read longer words with confidence.

Devin M. Kearns, Ph.D., is the Goodnight Distinguished Professor in Early Literacy at NC State, where he studies early reading and collaborates with experts in psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience to explore the brain basis of reading.

RESOURCES

• Helping Students With Dyslexia Read Long Words: Using Syllables and Morphemes by Devin M. Kearns and Victoria M. Whaley
• Following the Rules in an Unruly WritingSystem: The Cognitive Science ofLearning to Read Englishby Devin M. Kearns and Matthew J. Cooper Borkenhagen
• Syllable Division: New Data that Can Inform Intervention by Joanne Marttila Pierson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
• On Eating Elephants and Teaching Syllabication by Tim Shanahan

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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

• How we teach reading at big horn elementary resource

Connect with us

• Facebook and join our Facebook Group 
• Twitter 
• Instagram 

Visit our website to stay connected with Melissa and Lori! 

Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum. 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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

• SamePage Reading Facebook Group
• MetaMetrics’ Reading Research Recap  
• Join the Reading Research mailing list
• The Reading League Journal
• The Reading League recording on what teachers need to know about “how science works” (skip to 1 hour, 40 min)
• Meta-Analysis Review
• Robert Slavin’s Blogs
  • In Meta-Analyses, Weak Inclusion Standards Lead to Misleading Conclusions. Here’s Proof.
  • How Can You Tell When The Findings of a Meta-Analysis Are Likely to Be Valid?
  • Meta-Analysis and Its Discontents 
• Criticisms of Meta-Analysis (but also great rebuttals) 
• Morphology Recent Research Studies
  • Executive Functions and Morphological Awareness Explain the Shared Variance between Word Reading and Listening Comprehension
  • Effects of Target Age and Genre on Morphological Complexity in Children’s Reading Material
  • Contrasting Direct Instruction in Morphological Decoding and Morphological Inquiry-Analysis Interventions in Grade 3 Children With Poor Morphological Awareness
• Fluency Recent Research Study
  • A systematic review and meta-analysis of the Readers’ Theatre impact on the development of reading skills
• Comprehension Recent Research Study 
  • Elementary Teachers’ Perspectives on Teaching Reading Comprehension 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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

• Science of Reading or Snake Oil webinar with Holly Lane
• UFLI Foundations 
• ESSA’s Review of LLI

Connect with us

• Facebook and join our Facebook Group 
• Twitter 
• Instagram 

Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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

• Articles by Natalie Wexler
• Steve Graham: Effective Writing Instruction (video)
• Powerful Writing Strategies for All Students, Harris & Graham (book) 

Connect with us

• Facebook and join our Facebook Group 
• Twitter 
• Instagram 

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum. 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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

• The Reading Comprehension Blueprint From The Reading Comprehension Blueprint by Nancy Lewis Hennessy. Copyright © 2021 by Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved
• Expert Minute Video-Thinking about Comprehension: Nancy Hennessy
• Rethinking How to Promote Reading Comprehension, American Federation of Teachers by Hugh Catts
• Ep. 118 Rethinking Reading Comprehension with Researcher Hugh Catts, podcast
• AIM FCRR Background Knowledge Research 

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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

• Academic Word Finder Achieve the Core
• Which Words Do I Teach and How? Article by David Liben
• Lifelong Literacy, Lyn Stone
• Explicit Instruction, Anita Archer 
• Bringing Words to Life, book 
• The Writing Revolution, book
• Text Project Vocabulary Instruction
• Word Generation Serp Institute 
• Word Sift 
• Coxhead Academic Word List 
• Podsie 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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

• Language for Life by Lyn Stone 
• LifelongLiteracy.com 
• Etymonline 
• Once Upon a Word: A Word-Origin Dictionary for Kids 
• The Writing Revolution Book Judith Hochman and Natalie Wexler
• The Writing Revolution Podcast (Melissa and Lori Love Literacy) 
• Ox, House, Stick: The History of Our Alphabet

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum. 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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

• Think Forward Educators
• Five Ways to Focus on Fluency, Think Forward Educators Blog 
• Fluency Rubric, Tim Rasinski
• Readers Theater Scripts, Chase Young
• Fluency Resources, Tim Rasinski 
• Nathaniel Swain on Writing to Learn, ERRR Podcast

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum. 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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

• Hasbrouck-Tindal Oral Reading Fluency Chart
• Fluency Norms Chart (2017 Update) 
• Developing Fluent Readers by Jan Hasbrouck, Reading Rockets
• Understanding and Assessing Fluency by Jan Hasbrouck, Reading Rockets
• Tim Rasinski Multidimensional Fluency Rubric 
• NAEP Fluency Scale 
• What Does “Below Basic” Mean on NAEP Reading? 

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum. 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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

• Click here to access the research Claude mentions during this podcast 
• Melissa and Lori Love Literacy Ep. 119 How Reading Science Works for English Learners with Elsa Cardenas-Hagan

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum. 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

Episode 227

In this episode, Jan Hasbrouck discusses the critical components of reading fluency, focusing on automaticity and its measurement through words correct per minute (WCPM). The discussion highlights the relationship between fluency and comprehension, the role of oral reading fluency in assessing student progress, and the importance of frequent assessments in the classroom. Jan also reflects on recent research findings from NAEP scores that challenge previous assumptions about fluency and automaticity, emphasizing the need for educators to adapt their understanding and practices based on evolving research.  The discussion also touches on the debate between repeated reading and wide reading, advocating for an approach to reading instruction that incorporates both methods. Hasbrouck encourages educators to embrace continuous learning and adapt their teaching strategies based on evolving research.

Resources 

• Hasbrouck Tindal 2017 ORF Norms Chart
• 2018 NAEP Oral Reading Fluency Study by White, S., et. al. 
• Listen to more Melissa & Lori podcast episodes on Fluency! 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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

• Teaching Reading to African American Children by Julie Washington and Mark Seidenberg 
• Struggling Readers Who Speak African-American English Need Support - And Respect by Natalie Wexler 
• Minority Student Achievement Network 
• The Opportunity Myth by TNTP
• The Academic English Mastery Program by LAUSD

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum. 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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

• No Time to Waste: Structured Literacy for Young Adults
• Ameer Baraka video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyFiOYCqvyk 

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum. 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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.

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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

• Clarifying Differences Between Reading Skills and Reading Strategies, The Reading Teacher 
• Teaching Readers (Not Reading): Moving Beyond Skills and Strategies to Reader-Focused Instruction by Peter Afflerbach
• Shedding Light on Reading Skills and Strategies | Shanahan on Literacy  
• Comprehension Skills or Strategies | What’s the difference and does it matter? 

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum. 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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! 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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

• 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 
• Ep. 142: Structured Literacy in Small Group Time
• Choosing and Using Decodable Texts by Wiley Blevins
• Phonemic Awareness vs. Phonics Heggerty 
• What are Phonological Awareness and Phonemic Awareness? Heggerty 
• Free Sample Lessons Heggerty

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum. 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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.  

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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: 

1. Letters spell sounds (alphabetic principle) 
2. Sounds can be represented by one or more letters 
3. Sounds can be spelled different ways
4. Spellings can be pronounced in different ways 

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

• Triple R Teaching Podcast related episodes:
  • Print to speech vs Speech to print: What’s the difference?
  • How to add speech to print elements to your phonics instruction 
• Reading Simplified
• PhonicBooks 
• Evidence Based Literacy Instruction (EBLI)
• Phonics: Speech to Print vs Print to Speech Webinar
• The Seidenberg and McClelland (1989) model of visual word recognition
• International Dyslexia Association Fact Sheet on Phoneme Awareness 
• The Latest Research (And Debate) on Phonological and Phonemic Awareness Instruction by Susan Brady 
• Speech to Print or Print to Speech: What's the difference?  blog, by Tami Reis-Frankfort, Phonic Books
• Why Our Children Can't Read and What We Can Do About It,  book, Diane McGuinness
• Stanislas Dehaene: Book, How the Brain Learns to Read and YouTube Video, How the Brain Learns to Read, and Twitter Handle

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Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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! 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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

• Recht & Leslie Baseball Study  
• Wanted: A Science of Reading Comprehension movement | The Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• Reading comprehension is not a “skill” | The Thomas B. Fordham Institute 
• Why doesn’t increasing knowledge improve reading achievement? Tim Shanahan 
• Ep. 124 Innovative Assessment with the Louisiana Assessment Team Melissa and Lori Love Literacy podcast
• Cultural Literacy by E.D. Hirsch
• What Reading Does for the Mind Cunningham and Stanovich 

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum. 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

Episode 211 from December 6, 2024

Fluency is a crucial aspect of reading. It involves automaticity and the ability to connect different aspects of word knowledge.

In this episode, Maryanne Wolf and Melissa Orkin discuss:

• the importance of fluency in reading
• the factors that contribute to fluent reading
• the need for an integrative approach to fluency instruction 
• the POSSUM approach to building word knowledge

Big Takeaway: Fluency is essential for comprehension and has social-emotional implications for struggling readers. The POSSUM approach can help students make the needed connections to be able to read fluently. 

Want to Learn More? 

• The More You Know: How Teaching Multiple Aspects of Word Knowledge
  Builds Fluency Skills by Melissa Orkin, Kirk Vanacore, Laura Rhinehart,
  Rebecca Gotlieb, and Maryanne Wolf
• Building Fluency with POSSUM
• Downloadable lessons featuring the POSSUM approach:
  • Grades K-2
  • Grades 3-5
• Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect: Repeated Reading Is No More Effective Than Continuous Reading for Improving Fluency and Comprehension in School-Age Struggling Readers by Elizabeth S. Norton
• RAN and the reading brain with Elizabeth Norton (youtube video)
• Word Finder wordfinder.yourdictionary.com - find words with similar patterns!
• Crafting Minds Group 
• NIDO Learning

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

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 

• Rethinking How to Promote Reading Comprehension | American Federation of Teachers 
• Language and Reading Research Consortium Study 
• Listening strategies in the L2 classroom: more practice, less study

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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: 

• Systematic phonics teaching is just for Tier 2.
• The goal of balanced literacy is for children to love reading. 
• Explicit teaching kills the love of reading. 
• Give them time, they’ll catch on or catch up. 
• Teachers should choose what they think is best. 

Pam’s blog post, Balanced Literacy Bingo, debunks each idea listed above and more. 

Resources

• The Snow Report Blog and Balanced Literacy Bingo
• A School Leader’s Sliding Doors Moment by Sue Knight 
• Dear Balanced Literacy Teacher Podcast and Blog 
• La Trobe University’s Short Courses: Introduction, Intermediate, Secondary and Masters in Linguistics

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum. 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

In this episode, Melissa and Lori have a candid discussion about change with Kareem Weaver, co-founder of FULCRUM Oakland: Full and Complete Reading is a Universal Mandate. FULCRUM’s goal is to ensure that every Oakland child is an 'on-time' reader provided with full LITERACY: a fundamental civil right, a powerful protection from the school to prison pipeline, and the cornerstone for a life of choice and fulfillment. In this episode, Kareem discusses the change he is fighting for and the elements he believes are necessary to make it happen. 

Related Episodes

• Ep. 19: Getting at the Root of the School to Prison Pipeline with NCTQ President, Kate Walsh 
• Ep. 82: [CLEAN] Minneapolis Public School Parents: Accepting Nothing Less Than Evidence-Based Reading in Schools 
• Ep. 100: Trauma and Reading with Dr. Steven Dykstra 

Resources

• FULCRUM Oakland: Full and Complete Reading is a Universal Mandate

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Visit our website to stay connected with Melissa and Lori! 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.