In this episode, we talk with Sydney Bassard, a clinical speech language pathologist, also known as The Listening SLP. Inspired by her brother’s experience with dyslexia, she became a speech language pathologist and began advocating within her community so educators and parents can be informed and actualize reading science into practice. Sydney defines the role of the speech language pathologist in the community and in the school to help us better connect language and literacy. ResourcesThe Listening SLP Developmental Speech Sound MilestonesThese resources from the International Dyslexia Association are helpful to spread the word on social media about October as Dyslexia Awareness Month! Connect with usFacebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram Visit our website and stay connected with Melissa and Lori!Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.  We answer your questions about teaching reading in The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night.Grab free resources and episode alerts! Sign up for our email list at literacypodcast.com.Join our community on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.

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. ResourcesDear Balanced Literacy Teacher Looking for Heroes: One Boy, One Year, 100 Letters 2nd EditionThese resources from the International Dyslexia Association are helpful to spread the word on social media about October as Dyslexia Awareness Month! Connect with usFacebook 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.  We answer your questions about teaching reading in The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night.Grab free resources and episode alerts! Sign up for our email list at literacypodcast.com.Join our community on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.

As part of our Dyslexia Awareness Month series, listen to a previous episode with parent and advocate Brett Tingley. March 25, 2022Brett Tingley shares how to harness parent energy and expertise to address the legal and moral responsibility of school districts to teach children how to read using science. Our Dyslexic Children tells the story of a group of parents who took on the system, and won. The nonprofit group shares a Strategic Roadmap that’s a practical and actionable guide for educators and parents looking to improve reading instruction in their communities.   We answer your questions about teaching reading in The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night.Grab free resources and episode alerts! Sign up for our email list at literacypodcast.com.Join our community on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.

As part of our Dyslexia Awareness Month series, listen to a previous episode with parent and advocate Katie Hickerson. September 24, 2021 “I just thought kids learned how to read… and my daughter didn’t. She could identify 4 letters by the end of kindergarten .” Katie Hickerson's daughter, Cora, went from a joyous little one to a child with lots of big feelings after starting school, saying she felt stupid.Katie pulled Cora out of school to be homeschooled - providing structured literacy instruction alongside rigorous tutoring through the International Dyslexia Association. In less than two years, Cora went from meeting a 1% reading benchmark to 92% and was back to herself - full of joy, laughter, and confidence. How can parents (and educators) support the reading science movement? Listen and learn! We answer your questions about teaching reading in The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night.Grab free resources and episode alerts! Sign up for our email list at literacypodcast.com.Join our community on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.

As part of our Dyslexia Awareness Month series, listen to a previous episode with parent and advocate Liz Hembling. November 24, 2020 Liz Hembling's daughter, Mia, attended a public elementary school. Liz noticed early on that she struggled terribly learning to read. In second grade, the school placed Mia in a remedial reading group, without communicating this to Liz. When Liz expressed her concerns, she was repeatedly assured that Mia was “on grade level” and “fine.” But... she wasn’t fine.  Liz knew there was something wrong.This sent Liz on a quest to understand what's happening in the public school system. How could she create change to ensure all kids could access quality reading instruction and services? Liz joined Decoding Dyslexia Maryland and tirelessly advocates for students and families. We answer your questions about teaching reading in The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night.Grab free resources and episode alerts! Sign up for our email list at literacypodcast.com.Join our community on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.

Today we have a special episode featuring four parents from all over the United States. One thing they have in common is that they have children with dyslexia. They are courageously sharing their stories as reading science advocates working for systemic change.  ResourcesDyslexia-specific Resources:International Dyslexia Association The Dyslexia InitiativeThese resources from the International Dyslexia Association are helpful to spread the word on social media about October as Dyslexia Awareness Month! Featuring Parents from Today’s Episode: COKID Colorado Dyslexia advocacy group  COKID Literacy Dialogue Tool Both Sides of the Table,  Dystinct Magazine featuring Erica Kaufmann, July 2022 Behaviors Before Dyslexia, The Dyslexia Initiative, Lauren TaylorConnect 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.  We answer your questions about teaching reading in The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night.Grab free resources and episode alerts! Sign up for our email list at literacypodcast.com.Join our community on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.

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. ResourcesDr. J. Richard Gentry’s Psychology Today Blog: Raising Readers, Writers, and Spellers Dyslexia Resources from Richard’s Psychology Today Blog: 7 Ways to Accommodate People with Dyslexia in the Classroom Recognizing Dyslexia May Prevent Low Self-Esteem and AnxietyEducators Can Help Young Children Diagnosed with Dyslexia A Guide to Early Markers of DyslexiaThese resources from the International Dyslexia Association are helpful to spread the word on social media about October as Dyslexia Awareness Month! Susan Barton Connect with us!Facebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram Visit our website to sign up to stay connected with Melissa and Lori. Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.  We answer your questions about teaching reading in The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night.Grab free resources and episode alerts! Sign up for our email list at literacypodcast.com.Join our community on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.

In this coming Friday's episode we get to talk to the fabulous Richard Gentry again! This time we talk to him about dyslexia to kick off a series of episodes for Dyslexia Awareness Month. Until then, listen to our first episode with Richard Gentry about the importance of spelling!  March 4, 2022We’ve been asked about spelling and the connection to reading science more times than we can count. Today, we talk with expert J. Richard Gentry,  author of Brain Words and blog contributor to Psychology Today: Raising Readers, Writers, and Spellers (An Expert Guide for Parents).He tells us all about spelling and how it connects to our speech and language system. Moreover, he supplies teachers with practical, meaningful, science of reading-aligned strategies to teach spelling. We answer your questions about teaching reading in The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night.Grab free resources and episode alerts! Sign up for our email list at literacypodcast.com.Join our community on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.

Virginia Delegate, Carrie Coyner, and University of Virginia Professor, Emily Solari, championed action for a bill (now a law) that put $70 million towards changing colleges of education, professional learning for educators, and curriculum and materials to align to reading science across the state of Virginia. On this podcast, they will share how they accomplished this with 100% agreement from all state representatives, regardless of political party. Resources Virginia Literacy Act Connect with usFacebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram Visit our website and stay connected with Melissa and Lori!Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.  We answer your questions about teaching reading in The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night.Grab free resources and episode alerts! Sign up for our email list at literacypodcast.com.Join our community on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.

Andrew Watson, educator and author of Learning and the Brain Blog and the book The Goldilocks Map, teaches us how to become healthy skeptics. Cognitive science and literacy intersect as we are inundated with information about reading science, curricular materials, motivation strategies and more. As we learn to discern and distill information, we ask the question: Is there research to support that? There are three steps to the process of unpacking the legitimacy of research. Determine if you trust the speaker. Ask: What is the best research you know of that supports that idea? Review the study. Ask: Is this study a good proxy for my students or scenario? Look for more research! Consider: Which direction does most of the research point me? ResourcesLearning and the Brain Blog by Andrew WatsonThe Goldilocks Map by Andrew WatsonIsn’t Independent Reading a Research-Based Process? Reading Rockets /Tim ShanahanTools to determine validity of research: ConnectedPapers.comScite.aiGoogle Scholar Connect with us!Facebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram Visit our website to subscribe to our newsletter. Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.  We answer your questions about teaching reading in The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night.Grab free resources and episode alerts! Sign up for our email list at literacypodcast.com.Join our community on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.