Melissa & Lori Love Literacy ™

Expert in literacy education, Pam Kastner, discusses the connection between teaching spelling and reading. She emphasizes that spelling is a higher linguistic skill that aids in understanding word structure and improves reading abilities. Effective spelling instruction integrates various linguistic components and should be aligned with research-based practices. Pam highlights the value of spelling inventories for assessment and using spelling errors as a learning tool.

Expert Richard Gentry discusses how spelling connects to speech and language systems. He provides science-aligned strategies for teaching spelling, emphasizing the importance of phonics and syllable patterns. The discussion covers the significance of spelling in literacy education and the need for updated teaching methods based on cognitive science research.

Expert Jessica Farmer shares tips on teaching heart words, emphasizing blending and continuous blending in literacy education. Heart words are high-frequency words with irregular spellings. Importance of systematic teaching, orthographic mapping, and engaging activities for heart words. Resources and recommendations for teaching heart words effectively.

Julie VanLier and Dr. Svetlana Cvetkovic discuss their experiences and successes teaching phonics.  They both highlight the importance of a speech-to-print approach and the impact it has had on their students' reading and spelling abilities. The conversation also delves into the principles of speech to print and the scope and sequence of instruction.  They emphasize the importance of interleaving, where concepts are revisited over time. The integration of phonics into all aspects of reading and writing is key, as well as the use of authentic text. Overall, their approach focuses on engagement, flexibility, and integration to ensure student success in literacy.TakeawaysTeaching phonics using a speech-to-print approach can lead to significant improvements in students' reading and spelling abilities.The principles of speech to print include the understanding that one, two, three, or four letters can spell a sound.A sound can be spelled in many different ways, and the same spelling can represent different sounds.The scope and sequence of instruction in a speech-to-print approach involves teaching students the different sound-spelling patterns and helping them understand the logic and patterns of the English language.Key Tenets of Speech to Print Sounds can be represented by 1, 2, 3, or 4 letters. Sounds can be spelled different ways.Spellings can be pronounced in different ways.ResourcesJulie's iReady scores infographicKinder spelling phase comparisons using traditional & speech-first phonics approaches infographicEvidence-Based Literacy Instruction (EBLI) Li & Wang (2023) self-teaching meta analysis -- self-teaching was enhanced through phonological recoding via spelling A step-by-step pdf for k-2 teachers using FREE speech-first resources-- I especially encourage kinder teachers to take the free 1-hour Udemy course by John Walker (founder of Sounds-Write) as it includes a full scope & sequence for teaching the basic code and even into the beginning advanced codeEp. 147: Hot Topic Series: What is Speech to Print?  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.

From August 12, 2022Talking with Dr. Julia Lindsey is like popping into the classroom next door to chat with your best teacher friend after school. On this podcast, Julia shares what evidence says that young readers need to know to help them decode words efficiently. We discuss foundational reading skills, starting with oral language and print concepts through multisyllabic word reading. Instructional swaps take this conversation to the classroom where Julia tells us what to swap to improve instruction. Efficient and effective instruction is critical when teaching decoding. ResourcesReading Above the Fray by Dr. Julia B. Lindsey 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.

 Yvette Manns discusses the schwa and its importance. She shares insights from her book, The Not So Lazy Schwa, and explains how it helps children understand the schwa sound. Yvette also tells all about National Schwa Day, a holiday she created to celebrate language and literacy in schools. She provides suggestions for celebrating the day and highlights the resources available in the National Schwa Day toolkit. TakeawaysThe schwa is a neutral unstressed sound that is the most common sound in the English language.Teaching the schwa is important for helping students decode and encode multisyllabic words.National Schwa Day is a holiday created to celebrate language and literacy in schools.The National Schwa Day toolkit provides resources and activities for teachers to implement the holiday. 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.

Experts discuss teaching students to read irregular words, the role of morphology, and different approaches to decoding. They emphasize the importance of meaning and context in word recognition. Strategies include mispronunciation correction, morphology understanding, and providing a toolbox of decoding strategies for students

Denise Eide shares how understanding the logic of English can improve reading and spelling skills. Teaching complete phonics rules empowers students. Exploring phonetic inconsistencies and decoding words enhances learning. Mastering high-frequency words is key to efficient decoding. Utilizing decodable books and phonemic awareness helps navigate spelling challenges. Understanding the balance between sound and meaning is crucial in English spelling.

In this episode, teacher Christina Winter, better known as Mrs. Winters Bliss on Instagram, talks about the practical application of sound walls in the classroom. She provides her top 3 tips and shares how sound walls can be used in instruction. She also provides ideas for how students can interact with sound walls, such as through dictation, chants, and games. TakeawaysSound walls can be used during direct instruction to introduce new phonemes and provide a reference for students. Students can interact with sound walls through activities like dictation, chants, and games. It is important to prioritize the most common sound-spelling patterns.Resources and tools, such as phoneme-grapheme dictionaries and frequency lists, can support teachers in implementing sound walls effectively.ResourcesMrs. Winters Bliss Website FREE DOWNLOADABLE Science of Reading RESOURCES!  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.

Expert Mary Dahlgren explains the importance of sound walls in teaching all 44 speech sounds. Sound walls help students connect sounds to letters, support phonics instruction, and benefit all students, including English learners. The podcast discusses transitioning to sound walls, the significance of phonological awareness, dialect variations in phonics skills, and practical tools for teaching sound walls in early education.