Science of Reading: The Podcast A guide to integrating knowledge building into your classroom, with Jackie Relyea, Ph.D.
May 7, 2025
In this illuminating discussion, Jackie Relyea, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor of Literacy Education at North Carolina State University, shares her expertise on integrating background knowledge into teaching. She explains the power of read-alouds and word walls in building comprehension for multilingual learners. Jackie also emphasizes that vocabulary is just one aspect of conceptual knowledge. With a focus on creating a knowledge-rich curriculum, she highlights the joy of learning and engagement in literacy education.
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Literacy Beyond Visual Reading
- Jackie Relyea taught visually impaired students to read Braille in Korean and English, revealing reading's cognitive demands beyond vision.
- Literacy meant access and independence, reshaping her understanding of teaching reading as more than visual decoding.
Knowledge Builds Comprehension
- Knowledge building is crucial for comprehension by enriching students' schemas, mental frameworks for organizing information.
- Systematic, content-rich literacy instruction improves general reading comprehension beyond taught topics.
Reading Strategies as Scaffolding
- Comprehension strategies serve as temporary scaffolds to help readers engage with text.
- As readers build knowledge, they rely less on strategies and more on content understanding for deeper engagement.