We’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. Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us!Facebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram Related EpisodesEp. 65: Talking with the Literacy Documentary Team: The Truth About ReadingEp. 70: Science of Reading Part 1: Decodable Texts, Sound Walls, & the Aim of Early Literacy Ep. 23: Emily Hanford Epically Defines the Science of Reading 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.

Is your district in the process of choosing a new literacy curriculum? Or have you recently gone through the process? Adopting new curriculum is a huge change and involves shifting mindsets at all levels.  In today’s episode, we talk with two district leaders and learners doing exciting work with evidence-based, high quality instructional materials (HQIM). Join us in our conversation with Jean Wyche, Elementary Language Arts Specialist at Fairfax County Schools, and Janise Lane, former Executive Director of Teaching and Learning in Baltimore City and current Regional VP for Partner Success at Amplify ELA. By the end of today’s episode, we hope you will learn concrete steps districts need to take when deciding to move to HQIM. We hope you will enjoy hearing how they keep core values close while building coherence, collaboration, and confidence! We’d love to hear your thoughts on this conversation, so send us an email melissaandlori@literacypodcast.com or send us a message on Twitter or Instagram @literacypodcast.Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us!Facebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram RESOURCES MENTIONEDEd Reports: https://edreports.org/ Selecting for Quality: 6 Key Adoption StepsCurriculum Matters: https://curriculummatters.org/ Rivet Education: https://riveteducation.org/ Book: Shifting the Balance RELATED EPISODESEpisode 48: Behind the Scenes at EdReports.orgEpisode 45: RivetED Talks High Quality Professional Learning (HQPL)Episode 7: Why Curriculum Matters! 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 talk with Faith Borkowsky about her book, “If only I would have known… “ What I wish the Pediatrician, the Preschool Teacher, and the Librarian would have told me about Language, Literacy, and Dyslexia. This accessible book explains the science of reading in simple terms. Check out Ifonlybooks.com for free resources such as a book discussion guide. Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us!Facebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram  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.

Tre Hadrick, father, guidance counselor, reading science advocate, and book club leader, joins us on the pod today. You might know him as Mr. Lit on Twitter or Instagram, where he advocates for literacy and justice for all. Tre’s book club, Lit Champs (Dad’s Literacy Book Club), gained attention when he posted a video discussing this book - If only I had known… by Faith Borkowsky. We connected with Tre to discuss the impact of this book on his son and community. We also consider the big impact of this piece by Dr. Stephen Dykstra, titled Trauma and Reading.Digressions include Tre’s children’s book, Cheesesteaks and Clippers: The Barbership where you can learn about you, me and we! and recommendations for both cheesesteaks and clippers in the Philly area. Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us!Facebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram  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.

Hi Literacy Lovers! This week we wanted to offer you all a chance to listen to one of our favorite episodes from when we just started the podcast. The absolutely incredible and inspirational Emily Hanford drops a TON of information in this episode, so it's worth another listen if it's been a while. We hope you get as much from our conversation with her as we did! We will back next Friday with a brand new episode for you all.  [From Feb 10, 2020] Today Emily Hanford joins Melissa and Lori to define the Science of Reading, addressing the current misinterpretation of the term and what it really means. She shares thoughts on teacher prep programs and where teachers get knowledge about what or how to teach, contemplates why teacher prep programs are not preparing teachers to teach kids how to read, and how curriculum plays a role in helping teachers who do not know the science of reading.Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us!Facebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram  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.

We are honored to talk with two early grade veteran teachers from Vista Peak Exploratory in Aurora, CO. Vista Peak is in Year 4 of Great Minds’ Wit & Wisdom ELA, Geodes, and Wilson Language Fundations… the trifecta! April Evans, grade 1, and Danielle Hunter, grade 3, discuss the transition from piecemeal, low quality curricula materials to high quality materials that focus on building both skills and knowledge. They share how their materials support engagement and excitement in creating a classroom community of learners. What does the literacy block look like in grades 1 and 3? How are knowledge and skills aligned through grade bands? Listen to find out. Decodable Readers Protocol from Student Achievement Partners Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us!Facebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram  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.

David Liben joins us again to discuss how to improve reading for older students. How can teachers help older students with unfinished literacy learning? How can teachers address foundational skills and fluency for older readers? Are decodables appropriate for older students? What is the role of independent reading? What is a volume of reading? Where does knowledge building fit? Listen and learn about these topics and more with one of our favorite literacy friends! David’s Course: Improving Reading for Older StudentsDavid & Meredith Liben’s Graphic Novel for Kids: How we read David’s blogs on Volume of Reading one and two Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us!Facebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram  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.

David Liben joins us again to discuss how to improve reading for older students. How can teachers help older students with unfinished literacy learning? How can teachers address foundational skills and fluency for older readers? Are decodables appropriate for older students? What is the role of independent reading? What is a volume of reading? Where does knowledge building fit? Listen and learn about these topics and more with one of our favorite literacy friends! David’s Course: Improving Reading for Older StudentsDavid & Meredith Liben’s Graphic Novel for Kids: How we read David’s blogs on Volume of Reading one and two Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us!Facebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram  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, Melissa and Lori connect with James Dobson, an educator who has been teaching for more than a decade in Australia. He has worked as a classroom teacher,  lead teacher,  literacy learning specialist, and principal. We discuss his blog post titled Laying the Foundations, One Teacher’s Journey. James illuminates his journey with the science of reading on his blog, Laying the Foundations. His posts are magic! Follow James on Twitter, too. Visit OUR WEBSITE to subscribe to our newsletter and podcast! https://www.literacypodcast.com/Connect with Melissa & Lori:TwitterInstagramFacebook 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.

One of our listener's questions prompted Melissa & Lori to have a conversation about complex texts and ways students can access them. What does the research say? What are practical ways to apply it? How could this look in the classroom? The first part of this episode illuminates a conversation with Melissa & Lori in response to Kris’s text complexity Q&A. The second part is a rerelease of David Liben’s episode, where he discusses why old habits die hard, the impact of knowledge and vocabulary on comprehension, and why we’ve shifted away from leveled text for core instruction.Visit OUR WEBSITE to subscribe to our newsletter and podcast! https://www.literacypodcast.com/Connect with Melissa & Lori:TwitterInstagramFacebook 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.