Thinking Deeply about Primary Education The Teach Like a Champion Guide to the Science of Reading
Sep 13, 2025
Doug Lemov, the author of 'Teach Like a Champion', joins literacy experts Colleen Driggs and Erica Woolway along with Chris Such to discuss innovative reading instruction methods. They emphasize a knowledge-rich approach to reading, detailing essential strategies for enhancing comprehension and fluency. The conversation highlights the role of lesson preparation, the importance of engaging with complex texts through close reading, and the need for effective curriculum design. Their insights aim to reignite joy and meaning in classrooms, fostering better reading outcomes for students.
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Attention Is Malleable — Teach For It
- Student attention is malleable and heavily affected by technology and social media.
- Classrooms must become attentionally privileged environments to rebuild sustained reading focus.
Fluency Unlocks Comprehension
- Fluency is a prerequisite to comprehension because working memory freed from decoding enables insight.
- Many older students remain disfluent and struggle to access complex texts as a result.
Knowledge, Not Just Skills
- Background knowledge and vocabulary are central to reading understanding, not optional extras.
- Vocabulary instruction should be joyful and treated as knowledge-building, not a rote skill.
