Science of Reading: The Podcast

Latest Episodes:

S1-07. The missing link in reading comprehension: Anne Lucas Jan 08, 2020

Show notes

What is the missing link in reading comprehension? Anne Lucas, former curriculum director and current product manager of Amplify Reading, discusses the multifaceted nature of comprehension, why it’s so difficult to teach, a teacher's powerful "eureka! moment," and the specific sentence-level skills which, if practiced, improve overall comprehension.

Quotes:
“The more tools we give to kids to grapple with texts and concepts, the better they’ll be able to do it.”

“Background knowledge is incredibly important and is something that we need to integrate into instruction and curriculum.”

Resources:

Comprehension Microskills Classroom Activity

The Missing Link in Comprehension White Paper
Understanding and Teaching Reading Comprehension by Jane Oakhill

Want to discuss the episode? Join our Facebook group Science of Reading: The Community.

S1-06. The facts and myths of dyslexia: Emily Lutrick Dec 24, 2019

Show notes

Emily Lutrick, a PreK-5 Curriculum and Dyslexia Coordinator with almost 20 years of experience in education, examines the facts and fictional myths of dyslexia, how early is too early to screen for dyslexia, and how to identify the signs and risk factors. Susan and Emily discuss how dyslexia relates to the science of reading and what educators and parents can do to help students after school.

Quotes:
“You’ve got to arm yourself with good, strong, core curriculum. Make sure you’re informed in what it means to teach in a structured literacy environment. [These] go hand in hand with the science of reading.”

“Be intentional about identifying what that risk factor is. What is it that’s causing that breakdown?”

Resources:

Twitter @drlutrick

Want to discuss the episode? Join our Facebook group Science of Reading: The Community.

S1-05. Connecting confidence in school and literacy development: Lois Letchford Dec 11, 2019

Show notes

Lois Letchford, author of Reversed: A Memoir, shares personal accounts of her son’s struggles with learning how to read as well as her own in school with dyslexia. After being told by a teacher that her son was “the worst child [she’s] ever seen in [her] 25 years of teaching,” she persisted with endless patience to help her son and began writing poems to pique his interest in reading. What is he doing now? Was she successful?
Quote:
“Believe in your child, believe they are capable of anything--and tell them that.”

Resources:

Reversed: A Memoir by Lois Letchford

Poetry for kids by Lois Letchford

Website with articles and blog: https://www.loisletchford.com/

Twitter: @LetchfordLois
Want to discuss the episode? Join our Facebook group Science of Reading: The Community.

S1-04. The importance of fluency instruction: Tim Rasinski Nov 26, 2019

Show notes

Susan and Tim Rasinski, author of The Megabook of Fluency: Strategies and Texts to Engage All Readers, discuss his work at the reading clinic at Kent State University, the aspects of good fluency instruction, what constitutes fluency, and how reading speed is correlated to word recognition and automaticity. He stresses the importance of fluency and finding ways to be artful while teaching reading.

Quotes:

“Fluency is the bridge and we can’t ignore it.”

“Speed is the consequence of automaticity–automaticity is not the consequence of speed.”

Resources:

The Megabook of Fluency: Strategies and Texts to Engage All Readers by Tim Rasinski

Why Reading Should be Hot! by Tim Rasinski

Email: trasinsk@kent.edu

Website with articles and blog: timrasinski.com

Twitter: @trasinski1

Kent State Reading Clinic

Additional resources:

Fluency: The Neglected Reading Goal by Richard Allington

After Decoding: What? by Carol Chomsky

The Method of Repeated Readings by Dr. S. Jay Samuels

Jean Chall's Stages of Reading Development

Tim Shanahan interview on The Science of Reading
Want to discuss the episode? Join our Facebook group Science of Reading: The Community.

S1-03. Reporting on education and the science of reading: Emily Hanford Nov 13, 2019

Show notes

Susan sits down with education reporter and host of the Education Post podcast, Emily Hanford, examines the big takeaways from her experience on reporting on dyslexia, patterns that emerged from her investigating, the science of reading and why schools don’t align with it more, the theory of how reading works, and the evolution of balanced literacy, phonics instruction and whole language.

Quotes:

“We have to be teaching kids how the written language works to help them become good readers.”

“Family income and poverty affect educational opportunities and outcomes.”

Resources:

'Hard Words' Education Post Podcast
At a Loss for Words: How a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readers article by Emily Hanford
What to do if your child's school isn't teaching reading right? article by Emily Hanford

Additional resources:

NAEP Reading Scores
Want to discuss the episode? Join our Facebook group Science of Reading: The Community.

S1-02. Background knowledge and education reform: Robert Pondiscio Oct 30, 2019

Show notes

Robert shares what inspired him to embark upon his esteemed career path and how we must acknowledge and address that children come to school from different places and backgrounds along their language trajectory in our schools. Susan and Robert discuss the latest in education reform, the knowledge gap, how it is only going to get larger as kids move through grades, the limited time we have to correct it, and how to start doing so.

Quotes:

“Language is heavily dependent upon readers making correct inferences about context, and that’s background knowledge.”

“Language is a series of inference-making, that’s all knowledge-dependent. And if we’re not operating from the same base of knowledge, it all breaks down.”

Resources:

Robert Pondiscio's book:

How the Other Half Learns: Equality, Excellence, and the Battle Over School Choice

Robert Pondiscio's articles:

How to improve literacy after elementary school

The lost children of Hirsch: Will a fresh argument for content-rich curricula make a difference?

Additional resources:

"How knowledge helps", an article by Daniel Willingham
Teaching Content is Teaching Reading video by Daniel Willingham
Want to discuss the episode? Join our Facebook group Science of Reading: The Community.

S1-01. The Knowledge Gap: Natalie Wexler Oct 16, 2019

Show notes

What’s broken in our education system? Natalie joins Susan for a provocative talk about her latest book, The Knowledge Gap, and how a knowledge-based curriculum can change classrooms—and students’ futures.

Quotes

“Kids actually love to learn stuff. They love to feel like they’re experts. It does wonders for their self-esteem.” - Wexler

“Once teachers try it and can see what can happen…they’re going to say ‘I’m never going back to what I was doing before.” - Wexler

Resources

Natalie Wexler’s books:

The Knowledge Gap: The hidden cause of America's broken education system--and how to fix it

The Writing Revolution: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and Grade

Natalie Wexler’s articles:

“Elementary Education Has Gone Terribly Wrong: The Case for Teaching Kids Stuff” (The Atlantic, August 2019)

“Why American Students Haven't Gotten Better at Reading in 20 Years” (The Atlantic, April 2018)

Additional resources:

Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham’s education blog

Want to discuss the episode? Join our Facebook group Science of Reading: The Community.
Episode Content Timestamps*

2:00: Introduction: Why is Natalie Wexler?
4:00: The meaning of "content"
6:00: How did the problem of not teaching content evolve? Why do we need to teach content?
10:00: Observations from a knowledge-based classroom
13:00: Education reform and the current attention on knowledge building
17:00: Classroom teachers: Addressing misconceptions and confusion, and insight
26:00: The knowledge gap issue beyond just the individual teacher
34:00: The connection between content and writing
36:00: Top things for listeners to take away from this episode
*Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

S1-00. About Science of Reading: The Podcast Oct 14, 2019

Show notes

Welcome to Science of Reading: The Podcast! We bring educators the latest insights from researchers and practitioners in early reading. We believe equity in education begins with reading science.

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