Together in Literacy

The end of the school year is rapidly approaching here in the United States. For many children,  the end of the school year can bring about stress and uncertainty. Many of our students have feelings of anxiety - they may be a bit more anxious than excited about the end of the school year.  Typically, the school year helps our students to establish positive routines and relationships that...

Join us in welcoming our special guest, Sabrina Axt. Sabrina is a practicing attorney based out of the San Francisco Bay area, and she has been for over fifteen years.  Her career and personal journey have led her to leave civil litigation in order to advocate for her child and she now exclusively practices special education law.  Sabrina guides her clients through the special education...

In this episode, we are covering all things accommodations for dyslexia. We’ll answer the following questions: What are accommodations? Why do we need accommodations? What’s the purpose of accommodations? What are the benefits of having accommodations? Tune in to this episode for a review of the most common accommodations and things to keep in mind when choosing accommodations. Accommodations are...

In this episode, we’re joined by a very special guest, Sydney Bassard. Sydney is is an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist. She received both her B.S. in Public Health and her Master of Speech Pathology from the University of South Carolina. Sydney is licensed in Virginia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Through her private practice, The Listening SLP , she serves children from birth to...

In our last episode, we went deep into the Peter Effect and the importance of knowledge for educators. In this episode, we look at the Matthew Effect as it pertains to reading development in children. What is the Matthew Effect? The Matthew Effect refers to the idea that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.  Tune in as we apply the Matthew Effect to the education community. We’ll expl...

Have you heard of the Peter Effect? The Peter Effect comes from a Bible story in which Peter states, “I can not give what I do not have.” Applied to the classroom, we cannot help our students without the knowledge, training, or support that we need. In this episode, we dive deep into the Peter Effect.  We also discuss the importance of knowledge as educators. When we deeply understand somethi...

Everyone loves to play games, right? Are you using games and learning activities in your lessons with your students? In this episode, we talk about the benefits of playing games with our students, the different purposes these games serve, and tips to keep in mind when planning what games to use (and how) in your lessons. So, tune in if you’ve ever wondered, “Can I use games in my lesson?” or “What...

Have you ever heard of the I Do, You Do, We Do model and wondered what it was? Or maybe, you’ve heard of the Gradual Release of Responsibility Framework? In this episode, we break down the framework we use in our own 1:1 reading sessions with students - the gradual release of responsibility framework or the I Do, You Do, We Do model. This is a framework that goes along with the principles of Orton...

In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Erica Warren as we discuss working memory! Dr. Erica Warren is an educational therapist, executive function coach, writer, artist, podcaster, and the brain behind Good Sensory Learning . She’s presented at Building Readers for Life, Emily’s virtual conference (and she will be again this summer!) Dr. Erica has tons of online, multi-sensory materials available at...

What are decodable texts? They are the reading stepping stones necessary for reading authentic text. When we’re talking about decodable texts, we are referring to passages, readers, and chapter books. And that’s exactly what we’re talking about in this episode, how decodable texts can support your student’s social-emotional learning! Tune in to this episode to find out exactly what makes a text de...

In this special episode, we’re joined by Hope McNabb, our first-ever guest on the podcast! Hope is a brilliant college freshman and an amazing artist, who was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of eight. Tune in as Hope shares with us her own journey with dyslexia. She also shares advice for self-advocacy and her top tips for those diagnosed with dyslexia and their families.  If you like this...

This episode is part two of our previous episode, Season 1. Episode 5: How Dr. Samuel Orton and Anna Gillingham’s Work Support Social-Emotional Learning . In episode five, we did a deep dive into the history of Dr. Samuel Orton and Anna Gillingham, we explained the principles of the Orton-Gillingham method, and we covered the first five points of the Ortonian prescription. If you haven’t given it...

Come along with us as we explore the incredible work of Dr. Samuel Orton and Anna Gillingham! We’ve got a lot to say, so this will be a two-part episode.  In this first part, we give a brief biography of Dr. Samuel Orton. Then, we explore the legacy of the work of Orton and Gillingham and what it is that they really left for us as educators. Finally, we talk about the first five Ortonian pres...

Get ready to talk about the best books that you can use to connect social-emotional learning with your students! In this episode, we share our most favorite books to connect with our students, both younger and older, as well as with parents and educators! You can use books to bridge conversations about learning, dyslexia, and learning differences - either one-on-one or with the whole classroom. We...

Have you ever considered connecting metacognition to your literacy lessons? That’s exactly what we’re talking about in this episode and we are really excited to share this topic with you.  We just love the word metacognition. To put it simply, metacognition is thinking about your own thinking. When working with all students, but especially those who are struggling or have dyslexia, helping th...

Did you know that October is Dyslexia Awareness Month? For us, dyslexia is a major part of our everyday lives. We talk about dyslexia all year long!  In this episode, we discuss why social-emotional learning really needs to be a part of dyslexia instruction. We cover common myths about dyslexia, current data about dyslexia and literacy, some signs of dyslexia by ages and stages, and action st...

Welcome to the Together in Literacy Podcast!   This is our inaugural episode and we are so excited to share our love of literacy with you.  Who are we? We are Emily Gibbons and Casey Harrison. We’re both in the OG business (Orton-Gillingham, that is) trained and certified. We love talking about dyslexia advocacy and dyslexia awareness. We both have online businesses and tutoring practice...