Melissa & Lori Love Literacy ® | Science of Reading for Teachers

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 ab...

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 Foundat...

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 re...

In today’s episode, Kate Winn, a teacher, freelance writer and TV guest, and wife and mom to two girls, joins us on the podcast to share how after 20 years of teaching, she learned about the science of reading! She wrote this piece for Today’s Parent, titled I’m a kindergarten teacher and the way I’ve been teaching reading is wrong . How does she implement evidence-based practices in her classroom...

Today we talk with National Council on Teacher Quality’s Hannah Putman, Managing Director/Research , who penned a piece titled Getting Districts and Teacher Prep on the Same Page on Reading Pays Off . This research from CALDER sparked Hannah’s piece. She shared there is a disconnect in what teachers are learning in preparation programs and evidence-based literacy practices used in schools. If you’...

Jenn David-Lang is truly a Mastermind! Her strategic, structured, and supportive virtual Professional Learning Communities help school leaders grapple and tackle lots of difficult topics, ranging from How can leaders support student engagement during a pandemic? to How can leaders create space for teacher wellbeing? Check out her Mastermind PLC paper where she outlines critical structures for lead...

It’s GIVING TUESDAY, and if you’re a Literacy Lover like us, then what better way to show your literacy love than to donate to The Truth About Reading  documentary ? We caught up with the team for a second podcast to react to the teaser and hear about the journey they’ve taken since we last spoke with them. And, be sure to follow The Truth About Reading  on Facebook to stay up to date with the lat...

Natalie Wexler once said that parents are the sleeping giants in this reading science movement . The parents in Minneapolis Public Schools are awake and ready! They are passionate, informed advocates who developed a coalition of families willing to speak out and say, “Our kids deserve access to structured literacy. Less than 50% of students read at grade level.” Thus, the MPS Academics Advocacy Gr...

In today’s episode, we talk with special educator Katie Overstreet, who responded to a social media post with unwavering belief in her students and a can-do attitude. Her response stood out to us for so many reasons… such as the tangible ways she removes barriers for her students and her use of scaffolding techniques to support access to rigorous texts and tasks.  Katie’s candid conversation illum...

Sheeba Jacob’s blog post caught our attention when she wrote, “ While I could see myself in some of these books because of universal experiences like grief and love, limiting the reading experience to a few specific voices subconsciously taught me that only certain voices mattered.”  Two things are true: Texts are at the core of literacy instruction with our students, and the world is our school....

Natalie Wexler once said that parents are the sleeping giants in this reading science movement . The parents in Minneapolis Public Schools are awake and ready! They are passionate, informed advocates who developed a coalition of families willing to speak out and say, “Our kids deserve access to structured literacy. Less than 50% of students read at grade level.” Thus, the MPS Academics Advocacy Gr...

In this episode, Lindsay Kemeny, 2nd grade teacher , gives a deep dive into her evidence-based, small group instruction time. Her journey to the science of reading was necessary and life altering. It led her to clarity on structured, systematic approaches to teaching reading. She discusses informal and formal assessments, how she uses data to determine small groups, and center options for practici...

Kory Jensen is a 4th grade teacher in Colorado, obsessed with learning more about reading science! He read The Knowledge Gap  by Natalie Wexler … which set him off to learn more about knowledge building.  On today’s podcast, he talks about how background knowledge impacts his students’ comprehension and engagement (spoiler alert: they love going deep into topics!). He provides real-life examples a...

In this episode we talked with UnboundED’s Brandon White and Alice Wiggins about the Equitable ELA Instruction Concept Paper.   In our conversation, we’ll discuss effective and equitable instruction and the most efficient path to access it. This requires us, as educators, to do three things:  Adopt an aligned curriculum.  Provide instructional support that fosters all students' persistence wi...

Today we talk with author and professor Dr. Morgan Polikoff. His first book, Beyond Standards: The Fragmentation of Education Governance and the Promise of Curriculum Reform , provides insights along the rocky road of standards in education. The goal of the standards movement is consistency, as page 39 states, “consistency in instruction across classrooms, across grades, across schools and distric...

Mitchell Brookins, education consultant extraordinaire (and one of the moderators of the wildly popular Facebook group Science of Reading - What I Should Have Learned in College ) talks with us about this article, titled Teaching Reading to African American Children: When Home and School Language Differ by Julie A. Washington and Mark Seidenberg.  We know that reading depends on spoken language. H...

Francine Grannell and John Lawrence, leaders from Skaneateles School District, share how they narrowed their focus to strategically support teachers and students with year one Wit & Wisdom ELA implementation. Educators used NY State Briefs (like this one on Complex Texts ) to understand and thoughtfully engage in research-based practices within the curricula.  District and school leaders provi...

“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...

Take time to notice. Brendan O’Day shares an important message for educators - Start by noticing: Slow down and bring back the joy of schooling . He tells the story of preparing soon-to-be leaders, guiding them skillfully to seek curiosity rather than judgement. We realize this school year is unlike any other. Brendan writes that we should “Focus on bringing back the joy of schooling. Focus on thi...

Matt Hoganson, Assistant Principal in Aurora, CO, is committed to unthinking and thinking again… or in other words, "in a turbulent world, there's another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and unlearn.” In the book Think Again , author and psychologist Adam Grant discusses the ability to rethink and unlearn.   As literacy leaders (and lovers), how can...

What are we aiming to accomplish in early reading instruction? Dr. Julia Lindsey asks this  as she tackles topics such as decoding, decodable texts , sound walls, and more. We discuss the role of instruction and how that pushes a child to be better instead of keeping them at the same place where they might not develop skills as an independent reader. This two-part SoR series is a must-listen for e...

What are we aiming to accomplish in early reading instruction? Dr. Julia Lindsey asks this  as she tackles topics such as decoding, decodable texts , sound walls, and more. We discuss the role of instruction and how that pushes a child to be better instead of keeping them at the same place where they might not develop skills as an independent reader. This two-part SoR series is a must-listen for e...

In today's episode, Melissa and Lori break down the components of Wit & Wisdom ELA.  Curious about Wit & Wisdom's texts and tasks? Wondering what 'integrated approach' means?  Want to learn more about the role of knowledge building in comprehension? Implementing the curricula for the first time? Then this Wit & Wisdom primer is JUST. FOR. YOU.  Visit OUR WEBSITE to...

Dr. Alfred Tatum asked the question, "I constantly ask myself of all of the texts in the world, why do I want to put this text in front of my students?"  Melissa and Lori explore this question with Quintin in today's episode!  Dr. Quintin Bostic joins us to tell us all about Student Achievement Partner/Achieve the Core's new and improved text complexity toolkit. The updated too...

Melissa and Lori are obsessed with the knowledge building connection to writing in this episode, and thought it deserved another release! How can educators support students in clearly communicating their understanding through writing? How do HQIM support and execute this approach to writing for understanding? The Vermont Writing Collaborative authors chat with us about this grounded in a knowledge...