Teaching Literacy Podcast

Welcome to this special supplemental episode of the Teaching Literacy Podcast.   Due to current events, eLearning seems to be at the front of everyone’s mind.  Yesterday, schools in my state of Utah were cancelled for 14 days due to Coronovirus, and I know there are thousands of schools nationwide where this is occurring. Naturally, eLearning seems to be the obvious alternative.  We have...

Does what we do in oral reading fluency transfer to silent reading? That may not be a question you’ve thought much about- I know I certainly didn’t before I was introduced to today’s topic. Oral reading fluency is a major milestone on the way to building a successful reader, but most authentic reading in the world is done silently. So how does oral reading fluency relate to silen...

When a student is required to write about a text, what contributes to writing a successful summary? The first answer that may come to your mind is ‘reading comprehension’ did they understand the text the read in the first place? And you would be correct! Reading comprehension matters a whole lot when writing summaries. But what matters beyond reading comprehension. My guest today is he...

There’s a lot research out there, and more continues to be published every day. Each quality study on reading has it’s importance- but what are the trends in the field of research? That’s exactly of what my guests in this episode set out to do. Drs. Emily Brown Hoffman and Colleen Whittingham sifted through nearly 6,500 journal articles to understand the trends in early literacy...

How do your readers view themselves as readers? How do they view their own persistence? Their opportunity to make decisions within your classroom? What their perceptions of their own persistence? These questions are all aspects of student agency, and in this episode I talk with Dr. Margaret Vaughn about the Student Agency Profile (StAP) that she developed to help understand how students view their...

When was the last time you veered from your lesson plan? Why did you do it? Did your adaptation turn out better than your original plan? This episode, I discuss the adaptations teachers make during literacy, instruction with Dr. Margaret Vaughn of University of Idaho. We discuss how often teachers adapt instruction, what types of adaptations they make, and why teachers make these adaptations. Dr....

Join me for an excellent conversation with Dr. Chenyi Zhang of Georgia State University. We discuss how to think about writing with preschoolers and six best practices for integrating writing during morning meeting. This is a very pragmatic episode for anyone who teaches pre-K! Practices Discussed: Have writing materials on hand Write the routines Share the pen Scaffold writing attempts Build comm...

Join us for part 2 of an excellent conversation with Dr. D Ray Reutzel Reading Hall of Fame Inductee Dr. D Ray Reutzel joins us this week to discuss his coauthored book  Young Meaning Makers: Reading Comprehension in Grades K-2 We discuss how oral language can be used to support comprehension in the classroom, strategies for close reading, and how teach a comprehension lesson with CI Thoery mind....

Reading Hall of Fame Inductee Dr. D Ray Reutzel joins us this week to discuss his coauthored book Young Meaning Makers: Reading Comprehension in Grades K-2 We discuss the Construction Integration model of reading, how it relates to the CCSS, and how to use both to leverage student comprehension. The book says K-2, but this epiosde is full of takeaways for anyone wanting to leverage comprehension b...

Join us for part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Chase Young on strategies for supporting student fluency using the RTI framework. It’s great conversation on Tier 2 and Tier 3 strategies. Dr. Young is an associate professor at Sam Houston State University and the author of Tiered Fluency Instruction: Supporting Diverse Learners in Grade 2-5 . His website is thebestclass.org where you can acce...

Join me this episode in an excellent discussion on reading fluency with Dr. Chase Young. Dr. Young is an associate professor at Sam Houston State University, and author of the recent book Tiered Fluency Instruction: Supporting Diverse Learners in Grades 2-5. In this two-part interview we discuss the components of fluency and how readers theater can be used to support fluency development. Dr. Young...

Join me for a great conversation with Dr. John Z Strong from the University at Buffalo on how to support students in reading difficult texts. Highlights include: -A discussion on the difference between text complexity and text difficulty (and why it matters) -Suggestions for how to group students in reading difficult texts -A sample walk through of what supporting students in difficult texts could...

Dr. Lindsey Moses from ASU joins us to talk about an observational study of first graders during independent reading time. We have a great conversation about the history of independent reading, findings from her study, and what it means for the classroom. Connect with Dr. Moses- Website: LindseyMoses.weebly.com Twitter: @DrLindseyMoses Moses, L., & Beth Kelly, L. (2019). Are they really readin...

Hey everyone, I’m Jake! I started this podcast as a common space for literacy teachers and researchers. In this first episode I outline why I think this podcast is needed and ideas for how to approach the content.