167: Sally Bergquist is an experienced teacher who has written an explicit, structured writing program for K-2. Listen to learn her tips for getting kids started in kindergarten, gradually building their writing skills throughout the primary grades, and finding the right balance between explicit instruction and practice with feedback. Click here for the show notes from this episode. Pre-order my book, Reach All Readers, and get access to my science of reading mini-course - FREE! Looking...

Nate Hansford, author of The Scientific Principles of Teaching, equips teachers to discern whether or not a study is high-quality, and whether or not to apply its results to their teaching. We follow that by discussing particular pedagogies that research does not support. I highly recommend his book, which takes the mystery out of education research for busy teachers. Click here for the show notes from this episode. Pre-order my book, Reach All Readers, and get access to my science of...

165: Dr. Devin Kearns explains why popular syllable division methods may not be the most efficient way to teach students to read longer words - and what to consider instead. Click here for the show notes from this episode. Pre-order my book, Reach All Readers, and get access to my science of reading mini-course - FREE! Looking for printable resources that align with the science of reading? Click here to learn more about our popular and affordable membership for PreK through 3rd grade...

164: Dr. Lorraine Hammond describes a whole-school approach to teaching vocabulary and explains how teachers can teach writing at the same time. What a powerful and efficient way to build vocabulary and writing skills! Click here for the show notes from this episode. Pre-order my book, Reach All Readers, and get access to my science of reading mini-course - FREE! Looking for printable resources that align with the science of reading? Click here to learn more about our popular and...

163: When our students struggle with comprehension, it may be that we need to go all the way back to the sentence level. In this episode, Nancy Hennessy discusses many different ways that teachers can help improve students' sentence comprehension. You may want to take notes! Click here for the show notes from this episode. Pre-order my book, Reach All Readers, and get access to my science of reading mini-course - FREE! Looking for printable resources that align with the science of reading?...

162: When you understand the stages of early writing, you're better able to support beginning writers. In this episode, Dr. Sonia Cabell reviews a framework for teachers to evaluate, support, and extend the writing that young children produce. This is a must-listen for preschool and kindergarten teachers! Click here for the show notes from this episode. Pre-order my book, Reach All Readers, and get access to my science of reading mini-course - FREE! Looking for printable resources that...

161: Deedee Wills was once a kindergarten teacher who trained other teachers to implement guided reading. In today's episode she shares information from her recent Plain Talk presentation, explaining why we need to move away from guided reading and how to give intentional, effective small group instruction to beginning readers. Click here for the show notes from this episode. Pre-order my book, Reach All Readers, and get access to my science of reading mini-course - FREE! Looking for...

In this replay of a popular episode, we discuss exactly what's happening when children learn to recognize words - teaching tips included! Click here for this episode's show notes. Pre-order my book, Reach All Readers, and get access to my science of reading mini-course - FREE! Looking for printable resources that align with the science of reading? Click here to learn more about our popular and affordable membership for PreK through 3rd grade educators. Connect with Anna here! Blog...

160: Unless all your students are at the same skill level (highly unlikely!), you will need to meet with small groups during the school day - even in a structured literacy classroom. But what are the rest of the students doing? Christina Winter walks us through how to choose literacy centers, how to teach students to do them independently, and answers pretty much every question you might have about how to manage this time in your school day. Click here for the show notes from this...

159: Dr. Jodi Nickel shares her journey from balanced to structured literacy, and describes how her university pairs teacher candidates with struggling readers in a successful tutoring program. Click here for the show notes from this episode. Pre-order my book, Reach All Readers, and get access to my science of reading mini-course - FREE! Looking for printable resources that align with the science of reading? Click here to learn more about our popular and affordable membership for PreK...

158: Kindergarten teacher Casey Jergens shares how and why he teaches a whole group phonics lesson before offering small group instruction. Lots of food for thought! Click here for the show notes from this episode. Pre-order my book, Reach All Readers, and get access to my science of reading mini-course - FREE! Looking for printable resources that align with the science of reading? Click here to learn more about our popular and affordable membership for PreK through 3rd grade...

157: Special education teacher Melanie Brethour was a balanced literacy teacher until her son struggled to learn to read. As she learned about how to help him overcome dyslexia, she dove into the science of reading and hasn't looked back. Click here for the show notes from this episode. Pre-order my book, Reach All Readers, and get access to my science of reading mini-course - FREE! Looking for printable resources that align with the science of reading? Click here to learn more about our...

156: If you have questions about what the science of reading has to say about preschool, this is the episode for you! Dr. Susan Neuman, early childhood expert and author, discusses what research has to say about play-based learning, developmentally appropriate practice, and building oral language and vocabulary in preschool. Click here for the show notes from this episode. Pre-order my book, Reach All Readers, and get access to my science of reading mini-course - FREE! Looking for...

155: Dr. Pam Kastner walks us through the wonderful complexity of the English language and explains why spelling inventories are a powerful tool for informing instruction. Click here for the show notes from this episode. Pre-order my book, Reach All Readers, and get access to my science of reading mini-course - FREE! Looking for printable resources that align with the science of reading? Click here to learn more about our popular and affordable membership for PreK through 3rd grade...

154: Lyn Stone helps us navigate the complexities of English spelling in a way that makes sense for students and teachers. We discuss morphology, etymology, tricky spellings, and even get Lyn's opinion on teaching "blends" and syllable types. Enjoy! Click here for the show notes from this episode. Pre-order my book, Reach All Readers, and get access to my science of reading mini-course - FREE! Looking for printable resources that align with the science of reading? Click here to learn more...

153: Dr. Shelley Blackwell and I discuss all things spelling - from spelling assessment to spelling intervention. We also talk about whether it's useful to teach spelling rules and syllable types. Click here for the show notes from this episode. Pre-order my book, Reach All Readers, and get access to my science of reading mini-course - FREE! Looking for printable resources that align with the science of reading? Click here to learn more about our popular and affordable membership for PreK...

152: Dr. Richard Gentry, spelling expert, describes the phases of spelling development, lists do's and don'ts for spelling instruction, and explains what to do for children who struggle with spelling. Click here for the show notes from this episode. Looking for printable resources that align with the science of reading? Click here to learn more about our popular and affordable membership for PreK through 3rd grade educators. Connect with Anna here! Blog Instagram Facebook Twitter (X)

151: What an honor to speak with Dr. Louisa Moats about the English language! She explains why it's so important to teach spelling, why English isn't as irregular as some think, the usefulness and limitation of syllable types, and how to help students who struggle with spelling. Dr. Moats is a treasure! Click here for the show notes from this episode. Looking for printable resources that align with the science of reading? Click here to learn more about our popular and affordable membership...

Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoying listening  to my favorite phonics expert, Wiley Blevins!  Wiley Blevins is the author of many practical books about teaching phonics, and in this episode we talked ALL things phonics - from decodable books and syllable types to sound walls and differentiating phonics lessons. This is our most popular episode to date!  Looking for printable resources that align with the science of reading? Click here to learn more about our popular and affordable...

This is one of our top three most popular episodes, so let's give it another listen! Set for variability is a skill that readers use to transform a pronunciation error into the correctly decoded form of the word. If you think it sounds important, you're right! Today we learn all about set for variability from Dr. Marnie Ginsberg, creator of Reading Simplified. Looking for printable resources that align with the science of reading? Click here to learn more about our popular and affordable...

150: Dr. Deb Glaser is an author, educational consultant, and professional development provider with a special interest in morphology. In this episode she defines morphology and explains how to teach it, beginning in kindergarten and moving through the grades. Click here for this episode's show notes. Looking for printable resources that align with the science of reading? Click here to learn more about our popular and affordable membership for PreK through 3rd grade educators. Connect with...

149: In today's episode, special education coach Rachel Beiswanger explains how she uses assessment data when deciding what to teach her students. We list screening measures and list specific things you can do if students are scoring below benchmark. I list all the details in the show notes, so be sure to check them out! Click here for this episode's show notes. Looking for printable resources that align with the science of reading? Click here to learn more about our popular and affordable...

148: Dr. Sharon Walpole explains how teachers can balance whole group and small group reading instruction using her free open-access curriculum, Bookworms, and the phonics lessons in her book, How to Plan Differentiated Reading Instruction. Click here for the show notes from this episode. Looking for printable resources that align with the science of reading? Click here to learn more about our popular and affordable membership for PreK through 3rd grade educators. Connect with Anna here! ...

147: Linda Diamond explains why it's important to differentiate initial instruction in foundational skills using small-group instruction and a mastery-based approach. Click here for this episode's show notes. Looking for printable resources that align with the science of reading? Click here to learn more about our popular and affordable membership for PreK through 3rd grade educators. Connect with Anna here! Blog Instagram Facebook Twitter (X)