The Knowledge Matters Podcast

Writing is a powerful tool for enhancing learning and memory retention. It’s not just about the end product; the process itself boosts cognitive skills. Engaging students through writing prompts can lead to significant recall improvements, as research shows. The podcast dives into retrieval practice and its role in solidifying knowledge. It also addresses cognitive load, especially for younger learners, and offers strategies for breaking down complex tasks. Overall, writing fosters a deeper understanding and retention of information.

Doug Lemov passionately argues for the importance of reading whole books in schools, emphasizing how they engage students in a way that short excerpts cannot. The decline in reading habits among teenagers is alarming, as educators discuss the detrimental effects of focusing on snippets instead of complete narratives. Cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham highlights storytelling's role in enhancing comprehension and memory. Moreover, shared reading experiences build empathy and community, especially for diverse classrooms, making literature a powerful tool for learning.

David Paige, a Professor of literacy education at Northern Illinois University, dives into the intricacies of reading fluency and comprehension. He discusses how automatic word recognition and sustained attention are crucial for deep understanding. The conversation tackles the challenges of digital distractions and advocates for traditional literacy practices. Paige emphasizes the importance of reading hard-copy books to enhance fluency, suggesting that reintroducing focused reading time can drastically improve students' engagement and memory retention.

Zach Groshell, a dedicated teacher from Tacoma and author of "Just Tell Them," teams up with Patrice Bain, a seasoned Illinois educator and author of "Powerful Teaching." They dive into cognitive science principles transforming student learning. They discuss retrieval practice, using tools like flashcards for memory retention. Bain highlights 'power tools' for enhancing understanding, while Groshell emphasizes the importance of mixing current and past content in assessments. Together, they illuminate strategies that truly engage students in their learning journey.

In this enlightening discussion, John Sweller, an esteemed Australian psychologist and pioneer of cognitive load theory, shares invaluable insights into how the brain learns. He explains the limitations of working memory and the critical role background knowledge plays in enhancing learning capacity. Sweller emphasizes the necessity of explicit instruction and how building a knowledge base can alleviate cognitive burdens. The conversation also touches on the parallels between academic learning and physical training, illustrating how deliberate practice fosters expertise.

How is the Science of Reading connected to the Science of Learning? Join hosts Dylan Wiliam, Doug Lemov, and Natalie Wexler as they delve into the links between the two, both in theory and practice, in Season 3 of the Knowledge Matters Podcast. Across six 30-minute episodes, we’ll explore how long-term memory shapes reading comprehension, why reading whole books is better than excerpts on a screen, and how teaching students to write clearly can help them think more clearly, in conversation with researchers and teachers.“We want our students to remember. That’s the goal!”This podcast is produced by the Knowledge Matters Campaign and StandardsWork. Follow the Knowledge Matters Campaign on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Search #knowledgematters to join the conversation.Additional resources:Dylan Wiliam - Developing Curriculum for Deep Thinking: The Knowledge RevivalDoug Lemov - The Teach Like a Champion Guide to the Science of ReadingNatalie Wexler - Beyond the Science of ReadingProduction by Tressa Versteeg. Original music and sound engineering by Aidan Shea.

Join Doug Lemov, author of Teach Like a Champion, as he discusses the vital link between writing and reading comprehension. He shares insights on how writing enhances retention and understanding of content. The conversation dives into practical strategies for effective writing instruction, emphasizing the role of revision and collaborative learning. Explore how integrating writing into the curriculum can engage students, particularly multilingual learners, and improve their overall learning experiences.

In this engaging discussion, Kristen McQuillan, Chief Program Officer at StandardsWork, Kyair Butts, an award-winning teacher, and Susan Neuman, a distinguished researcher at NYU, delve into the vital role of knowledge in reading comprehension. They reveal how a rich foundation of linguistic, cultural, and content knowledge empowers students to engage more deeply with texts. The speakers critique traditional reading strategies, advocating for a more integrated approach that fosters genuine understanding, especially for diverse learners.

Explorers boldly venture into unfamiliar worlds, where confidence, curiosity, knowledge, and persistence are rewarded. When students approach texts like explorers, they bring these same qualities to the task—a mindset cognitive scientists call the “standard of coherence.” Such reading is purposeful, engaging, and expands the reader’s horizons. Reading anywhere, anytime is not just doable. It’s joyful.In this episode, hosts David and Meredith Liben discuss the key ingredients that power persistent reading and support students to apply the “standard of coherence” mindset when they read, including how the standard of coherence and related practices helped students accelerate their literacy development at the Libens’ NYC school.The notion of “coherence” sets a high bar for a reader’s expectations of their abilities and the text. They expect that it will make sense, and if it doesn’t, they will know what to do. With this mindset, students immediately apply practiced strategies to comprehend a text: closely read and reread, account for and explain what they know and don’t know, and use evidence from the text to back up those assertions and ideas. Expert Margaret McKeown talks about the key role comprehension monitoring plays in the process.The Libens then talk with three teachers who have experienced new curriculum and helped students develop the standard of coherence in their classrooms:Fifth-grade teacher Sean Morrisey, who discusses strategies to preview texts and build fluency (spoiler alert: spend time with books, not screens)Patty Collins, a teaching veteran, compares her work as a watercolor painter to how she creatively engages students within the EL Education reading curriculum (which she calls “my medium”)Third-grade teacher Staci McDougall, who discusses how she and her students have grown, by changing classroom practice and building stamina and comprehensionDavid and Meredith also talk about the importance of building stamina to engage with texts. By giving students time to read closely and persist through comprehension strategies, like providing textual evidence, they can become strong and steady readers who can keep focused on complexities over time.For more information about this episode, visit the Knowledge Matters Podcast website. The research, studies and artifacts mentioned are posted on the Knowledge Matters Campaign curriculum review tool.This podcast is produced by the Knowledge Matters Campaign and StandardsWork. Follow the Knowledge Matters Campaign on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Search #knowledgematters and join this important conversation. If you'd like to get in touch with David and Meredith, you can contact them through their website, readingdoneright.org.Production by Tressa Versteeg. Original music and sound engineering by Aidan Shea. Narration recorded at Bamboo Recording Studios.

Have you ever read something and then realized you didn’t totally understand it? That’s the hallmark of a challenging text, and it’s something students encounter all the time.In this episode, David and Meredith Liben discuss three ways to connect students with sophisticated texts, even if they can’t yet read or comprehend them on their own: juicy sentences, explain your answer, and structured journaling.First, linguist and language scholar Lily Wong Fillmore shares the origin story of her “juicy sentences” strategy, where teachers divide content-rich sentences into “chunks” and help students build vocabulary and knowledge through focused instruction and discussion. The Libens then share personal examples of two other instructional techniques that foster reading comprehension and the metacognition that supports its growth: explaining the answer and structured journaling.Explaining the answer is just that: asking students to answer a question and explain their response using evidence from the text. The magic lies in choosing questions based on a careful pre-read of the text at hand, not a learning standard. Students learn to identify what they do and don’t understand, and then practice returning to the text to re-read. Finally, the Libens discuss structured journaling, where a teacher chooses an important section of the text and students respond to four questions:  What are the most important ideas here? What don't I understand? How does this connect to what we've been discussing in class - or other texts that we've been reading? Do you have any reflection (aka ‘I wonder’) questions? These techniques focus students on the text while also helping them expand their thinking about what they have read. For example, David recalls how a second-grade student wondered why the author of The Tale of Despereaux described certain settings as light and dark, which sparked a class wide discussion about symbolism. The discussion probes connections between these classroom techniques and cognitive science. Rachel Stack, a former teacher at the school the Libens started and now at Great Minds, shares a compelling story about how she worried her students would get tired of explaining their answers, but they never did.For more information about this episode, visit the Knowledge Matters Podcast website. The research, studies and artifacts mentioned are posted on the Knowledge Matters Campaign curriculum review tool.This podcast is produced by the Knowledge Matters Campaign and StandardsWork. Follow the Knowledge Matters Campaign on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Search #knowledgematters and join this important conversation. If you'd like to get in touch with David and Meredith, you can contact them through their website, readingdoneright.org.Production by Tressa Versteeg. Original music and sound engineering by Aidan Shea. Narration recorded at Bamboo Recording Studios.