Let's play a little round of fact or fiction... science of reading style! When you're hanging out in the teachers' lounge or scrolling through Instagram or Facebook, you probably see a lot of different opinions and suggestions about the science of reading.And just like most things in life, some of those things you see and hear are true... but some are NOT.So today, we're going to take five of the most common science of reading beliefs and break down whether they are actually fact or fiction.I...

Understanding the words you're reading is just as important as sounding those words out so today we're diving into the quickest, easiest ways to build students' comprehension skills. SPOILER ALERT: You're probably doing a lot of these things already. Score!In this episode, we'll talk about...The reading roadblock some third and fourth graders seem to hit out of the blue and how to fix itThe 5 language comprehension skills every child needs to practiceHow to build students' "literacy knowledge...

When I started teaching second grade back in 2003, I had my students spend time every day drilling sight word flashcards. But despite all of that time and energy, when the Friday spelling test rolled around, many of my students STILL struggled to spell those sight words correctly. Why? I'll break it all down for you in this episode and I'll pass along a print-and-go tool that will help your students memorize words 10X faster!In this episode, we'll talk about...What research actually shows us ...

One of the things I get asked most often on Instagram is about the best order to teach phonics skills. And while there's not yet a definitive research study pinpointing whether it's better to introduce digraphs before blends or whether diphthongs should come before or after r-influenced vowels, etc. there IS a proven order Science of Reading Formula members and I use to teach it all to students as quickly and easily as possible.In this episode, we'll talk about...1:40 The best order to teach ...

If you have ever had a student who knew all of her letter sounds but, when it came time to blend those sounds together to read a word, she said something completely different, than this episode is for you because we are diving into phonological and phonemic awareness - essential skills that make up students' reading foundation.In this episode, we'll talk about...1:31 How to remember what "phonological awareness" means3:09 The five skills that make up students' phonological awareness4:05 My fa...

I am so excited to officially welcome you to my brand new podcast. Even typing those words is thrilling! This has been a wish of mine for a couple of years now, so finally hitting "record" and inviting you to my little corner of the podcasting world is exciting...And, truth be told, a little bit nerve wracking...But we are going to push those nerves aside because we have very important work to do. As you may know, 65% of fourth graders in the US are currently reading below grade level.We have...