Natalie Wexler, an education writer and author focused on literacy instruction, joins Susan Lambert to discuss her new book. They delve into the importance of connecting literacy instruction to cognitive science, emphasizing the limitations of phonics alone. Natalie explains cognitive load theory's practical application in teaching reading and writing. She shares effective strategies for implementing evidence-based approaches in classrooms and how to inspire colleagues to embrace these innovative methods.
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insights INSIGHT
Cognitive Science and Learning
Cognitive science principles like retrieval practice explain how to optimize learning by managing working memory limits.
Reading and writing instruction often ignores these principles, increasing cognitive load unnecessarily for students.
insights INSIGHT
Background Knowledge Reduces Load
Teaching reading skills in isolation without strong background knowledge overloads working memory.
Skills require relevant content knowledge to be effective for comprehension and learning.
insights INSIGHT
Automaticity Frees Cognitive Capacity
Foundational reading skills like decoding must become automatic to free cognitive capacity for comprehension.
This principle applies to both decoding and language comprehension.
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Connecting Literacy Instruction to the Science of Learning
Natalie Wexler
The Knowledge
How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch
Lewis Dartnell
This book serves as a quick-start guide for survivors of a global catastrophe, detailing the necessary knowledge to restart civilization. It covers a wide range of topics including agriculture, food and clothing production, material science, medicine, power generation, transportation, communication, and chemistry. Dartnell emphasizes the importance of understanding the fundamental principles of science and technology and the scientific method to rebuild an advanced technological society. The book is designed to help survivors navigate the immediate aftermath of a disaster and eventually rebuild a functioning society[1][2][4].
Make It Stick
The Science of Successful Learning
Henry L. Roediger
Mark A. McDaniel
Peter C Brown
Make It Stick challenges conventional wisdom on learning and teaching by presenting evidence-based strategies that replace less effective but widely accepted practices. The authors explain that effective learning comes from self-testing, introducing certain difficulties in practice, waiting to re-study new material until a little forgetting has occurred, and interleaving the practice of one skill or topic with another. The book uses real-world examples and stories to illustrate these principles, making it an indispensable guide for students, educators, and lifelong learners.
The Writing Revolution
A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and Grades
Judith C. Hochman
Kathleen Maloney
Natalie Wexler
The Writing Revolution offers a systematic and evidence-based approach to teaching writing, integrating seamlessly into existing curricula. The method, developed by Dr. Judith C. Hochman, focuses on specific techniques tailored to students’ needs and provides targeted feedback to transform weak writers into strong, confident communicators. It enhances reading comprehension, improves organizational skills, enriches oral language, and develops analytical abilities. The book is a practical guide for teachers to incorporate these strategies into their content instruction, making it a valuable tool for advancing students’ writing and thinking skills[1][2][5].
In this episode, Susan Lambert rejoins podcast alum Natalie Wexler to discuss Natalie’s new book Beyond the Science of Reading: Connecting Literacy Instruction to the Science of Learning. Listeners will gain insights into why this topic is important, what this book offers educators, why Natalie was so drawn to writing this book, and what cognitive science-informed teaching looks like in general. Natalie addresses how cognitive load theory works in practice with literacy, misconceptions about focusing only on phonics, and scaling science-informed instruction. Natalie also answers a question from the listener mailbag about encouraging colleagues to adopt an evidence-based approach.
Listen to Illinois administrator Serena Klosa on Beyond My Years!
Quotes: “We’re overlooking the ways in which the typical approach to teaching reading comprehension and writing actually conflict with what cognitive science tells us about how people learn to do those things.” —Natalie Wexler
“We spend much more time trying to teach…them to read, but we kind of expect them to just pick up writing. You know, for most kids, it does not happen.” —Natalie Wexler
“No matter how good you are at making inferences, if you don't have the requisite background knowledge, you're not gonna be able to do it.” —Natalie Wexler
“It doesn't work to just ask inexperienced writers to just write down stuff. That is not going to provide the cognitive benefits.” —Natalie Wexler
Episode timestamps* 02:00 Introduction: Who is Natalie Wexler? 04:00 Natalie’s new book 07:00 What is the science of learning? 11:00 Connecting the science of learning to reading, writing, literacy 14:00 Automaticity and cognitive load theory 17:00 Transferable vs non-transferable skills 22:00 Strategies to release cognitive load when learning new skills 24:00 Learning to write, writing to learn. 29:00 Bringing science informed teaching to scale 32:00 What readers will take away from the book 33:00 Mailbag question: How can one person get more colleagues to use an evidence-based approach? 36:00 Final thoughts *Timestamps are approximate
Science of Reading: The Podcast 
