Reading Teachers Lounge

Latest Episodes:

Differentiation for Different Readers Jun 16, 2022

Show notes

Shannon and Mary chat with Nancy Young, the creator of the Ladder of Reading & Writing, about differentiated instruction for readers at different levels. [Note: Our podcast has explicit permission from Nancy Young to use her Ladder infographic image and information with our audience.] In this episode we discuss the equitable need for differentiation, in order to "offer children what they need based on where they are." Strategies, examples, and activities are shared for teachers to modify their literacy instruction based on the unique needs of their readers.
Episode Resources:

Hot Logic Mini Oven https://amzn.to/3jO2C4l (*Amazon affiliate link)
Daily Harvest (Get $35 off your first box when you use this link)
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Just Right Reading Books for Families and Students Jun 02, 2022

Show notes

Shannon chats with Sarah Rich, CEO of Just Right Reader, about her company that provides decodable readers to students, families, teachers, and schools. Sarah and Shannon talk about how decodable texts are important for the right reading practice for students. Sarah provides details about their mission to make reading fun and for students to learn to read with engaging decodables that are representative of students in America's schools.
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Sound Walls Mar 24, 2022

Show notes

Shannon and Mary chat with Christina Edmondson (@literacywithmrs.e) about implementing Sound Walls into your literacy classrooms. Christina shares how Sound Walls compare to traditional word walls and provides ideas for using them with students in reading and writing. She describes exactly how to set up your own Sound Wall and start using with your readers.
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Phonemic Awareness: In the Dark or With Letters? Mar 03, 2022

Show notes

Shannon and Mary chat about the recent debate in the science of reading community about whether phonemic awareness drills without letters are a worthwhile exercise for readers. They describe activities they've done with struggling readers to build phonemic awareness, and they talk about the use of those activities as a part of Tier 1 reading instruction.
Episode Resources:

Research article
Response from David Kilpatrick and others
Timothy Shanahan: RIP to Advanced Phonemic Awareness
I Think I was Wrong about Phonemic Awareness (a Teacher's perspective)
Heggerty Resources
Phonological Awareness Assessment
YouTube discussion about the topic among other reading teachers
Phonemic proficiency
Reading Meetings with Mark and Molly
Getting Ready to Read by Jo Fitzpatrick (*Amazon affiliate link)
Equipped for Reading Success by David Kilpatrick (*Amazon affiliate link)
Shannon's Phonemic Awareness resources

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Morphology Feb 10, 2022

Show notes

Shannon and Mary chat with Emily Conlan from @wordmorphed_ on Instagram about Morphology. Emily shows how and where Morphology fits into structured literacy instruction and the science of reading. Their discussion provides easy ways to strengthen students' word meaning knowledge at different grade and age levels of readers.
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New Understandings about Encoding Jan 27, 2022

Show notes

Shannon describes some new ways she's helping her older elementary students learn how to encode and spell. Mary shares the S.O.S strategy for Spelling and explains the research about encoding and the brain processing that happens as students make spelling choices.
Note: The S.O.S. strategy is typically included with all Orton-Gillingham training organizations and isn't just attributed exclusively to IMSE. We appreciate Emily Gibbons from The Literacy Nest for this clarification. Also, we incorrectly stated that she had trained with IMSE, which was said in error. She first trained with IMSLEC (MA General Hospital O-G Training Curriculum) and then AOG (Academy of Orton-Gillingham). You can learn more about her and the incredible work she does with multi-sensory resources and instruction at her website: The Literacy Nest.
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The Updated Ladder of Reading and Writing Dec 30, 2021

Show notes

Shannon and Mary discuss the revised Ladder of Reading and Writing that was recently updated by Nancy Young. [Note: Our podcast has explicit permission from Nancy Young to use her Ladder infographic image and information with our audience.] In this episode we compare the updates to the Ladder to its original form and discuss the changes and how they may impact literacy instruction.
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The Importance of Storytelling Dec 16, 2021

Show notes

Shannon and Mary chat with Anna Boldog from Bookr Class about the Importance of Storytelling. They share their own memories and experiences with stories as readers and teachers. And they talk about what research shares about how storytelling impacts language and literacy development. This discussion should prompt your own memories of stories and how they've impacted your life, your instruction, and your readers.
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Supporting Reading Teachers Nov 25, 2021

Show notes

Shannon and Mary chat with LaMonica Williams, Director of Programs for Teaching Matters, about how to support reading teachers and their students through intensive but supportive coaching and literacy training.
Episode Links for Resources mentioned:

Jumpstart program
Webinars & Trainings
Twitter @teachingmatters
Contact Teaching Matters : inquiry@teachingmatters.org
Early Reading Assessment Toolkit from Teaching Matters
Reading Matters
Literacy activities from Teaching Matters

Bookr Class App (interactive storytelling) 70% off promotion link

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Scarborough's Reading Rope with Tess Kraft Nov 12, 2021

Show notes

Shannon chats about the different strands of Scarborough's Reading Rope with Tess Kraft. They talk about all the many different skills that weave together into skilled reading and share ideas about transferring the science of reading into effective literacy instruction.
Episode Links for Resources mentioned: