Shanahan on Literacy

Latest Episodes:

Disciplinary Literacy Goes to Elementary School Sep 20, 2025

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This podcast explains the nature of disciplinary literacy and lays out a description of what role it should play in the elementary school reading curriculum.

Our Middle School Reading Scores are Dropping – Help! Sep 06, 2025

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Middle school reading scores are stagnant or dropping all over the country. What can we do about that? This podcast explores what a science of reading based response should look like. If you want to help upper elementary, middle school, and high school readers, please tune in!

Rejecting Instructional Level Theory Aug 23, 2025

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This episode explores the idea of teaching students with leveled books at their so-called instructional reading levels. For 70+ years, educators have been told that this was the key to optimum amounts of learning. This podcast challenges that idea.

Modeling in Fluency Instruction Aug 09, 2025

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"Experts" make lots of recommendations about how to teach oral reading or text reading fluency. One of those recommendations is that it is important to "model" oral reading for the students. The research is nearly silent on this issue, so what makes sense?

What is the Science of Reading? Aug 02, 2025

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This episode explores what it meant by the term "science of reading" and it distinguishes that idea from a "science of reading instruction." The issue here has to do with what kind of evidence should be used to determine how best to teach reading.

Print-to-Speech or Speech-to-Print? That is the Question Jul 26, 2025

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This episode explores the effectiveness of Orton-Gillingham approaches to the teaching of phonics as well as which method is best for facilitating growth in decoding -- teaching students connect letters to sounds or sounds to letters.

How to do the Best Benchmark Testing? Jul 12, 2025

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This podcast explores the pluses and minuses of benchmark reading testing, including considerations of test frequency, time of day the tests are administered and who proctors the tests.

My Child Will Only Read Graphic Novels. Help! Jun 28, 2025

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Many kids only want to read graphic novels. Is that a problem? This podcast explores the pluses and minuses of graphic novels when it comes to learning to read. It includes practical suggestions for parents and teachers.

Should Reading Be Taught Whole Class or Small Group? Jun 14, 2025

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There is a long history in reading education of promoting small group instruction. This podcast explores what the research has to say about the benefits -- or lack thereof -- of small group teaching and whether it is such a good idea afterall.

Encouraging Summer Reading Jun 07, 2025

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This podcast explains why summer reading practice is so important and provides 13 recommendations for ways to encourage children to read when the schools are closed.

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