Episodes

Welcome to a new school year! This is a fantastic interview to kick things off. In this episode I am talking with Dr. Courtney Hattan and Dr. Sarah Lupo about knowledge, what it means for reading comprehension, and how to think about leveraging knowledge in the classroom. I am also excited to announce that there is a new co-producer with me on TLP. His name is Patrick Wells and he is a first year first grade teacher. He will be helping with the editing and production of the show. If you find v...

Welcome to this episode of TLP! My guest is Dr. Kathleen Brown who directs the reading clinic in the college of education at the University of Utah. Her work focuses on beginning reading instruction, word recognition, instruction, comprehension, instruction, intervention models for at-risk and struggling readers, and teacher professional development in reading instruction and intervention. Dr. Brown and her colleagues recently reviewed the two most popular Phonological Awareness materials used ...

Welcome to this episode of TLP! My guest is Dr. Devin Kearns, who is an Associate Professor of Special Education in the department of Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Kearns’s research focuses on reading disability, including dyslexia and school-aged children with an emphasis on linking educational practice to cognitive science. In this episode we discuss helping students read long words. Our discussion includes polysyllabic and polymorphemic discussion, as well as t...

In this episode I interview Dr. Louise Spear-Swerling about her new book Structured Literacy Interventions: Teaching Students With Reading Difficulties Grades K-6. Dr. Louise Spear-Swerling is a professor emerita in the department of special education at Southern Connecticut State University. Her research interests have focused on reading development, literacy difficulties, and how teacher knowledge connects to reading instruction. This is an excellent interview with lots of great takeaways for ...

Maybe you have bought materials from Teachers Pay Teachers to use in your classroom. Or maybe you borrowed curriculum from another teacher that you used to supplement your instruction in the classroom. This is supplemental curriculum at work and my guest today has some interesting findings about this phenomenon. His name is Daniel Silver and he is a 4th year PhD student at USC. In this episode we talk about how things like the Common Core, social media, and COVID have all influenced the use of s...

Today’s guest is a returning guest. I’m very excited to re-interview on the show, Dr. Margaret Vaughn. Dr. Vaughn is an associate professor in the College of Education at Washington State University. Dr. Vaughn recently completed a systematic review of teacher visioning in a systematic review, which forms the basis of our conversation today. I would also highly recommend checking out Dr. Vaughn’s previous episodes as well as her recent books. TLP Episodes with Dr. Vaughn Episode 8 Adaptive L...

Welcome to a new year! In this episode I invited Dr. Zoi Philippakos associate professor in the College of Education at the University of Knoxville, Tennessee to discuss her recent book Developing Strategic Young Writers Through Genre Instruction Resouces for Grades K-2. It’s a great book, she also has a related book for 3-5 that I highly recommend checking out as well. Enjoy the episode!

2021 was fantastic! Looking forward to a great year of literacy in 2022!

I’m very excited about today’s episode today. My guest is Dr. Dan Reynolds, he is an assistant professor of English and literacy education at John Carroll university. He does a lot of work with scaffolding texts and, helping support students in complex texts. But today we’re talking specifically about updated recommendations for adolescent literacy. In 2008, the Institute of education sciences released a guide for teaching adolescents grade 4-12. Link to 2008 IES Practice Guide for Adolescent L...

Identifying text structure is an important element of the Common Core State Standards, but what does research say about what it is and how it should be taught? Dr. John Z. Strong is back on the show today to talk about these questions. He developed and investigated an intervention called ‘Read STOP Write’ to support students knowledge and use of text structures in complex text. Dr. Strong is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Learning and Instruction in the Graduate School of Educatio...

Thank you for your continued support with the podcast! My goal is to publish two episodes a month, I would love some help to make that happen. Two things I am looking for: #1 Someone willing to help me with backend work. This includes audio editing, uploading, and show notes. I can show you how! #2 Donations. I would love some $$$ to pay the person doing #1. I am also looking for money to help with some technology upgrades and even to offer a small honorarium to the folks that interview on t...

As educators, we are constantly trying to hone our craft. However, what types of knowledge do teachers need to develop further expertise, and how do we gain that knowledge? My guests on this episode co-wrote a chapter in the recent book, “Principles of Effective Literacy Instruction” (see E 24) that tackles that very subject. Their chapter is entitled “Teachers as Lifelong Learners,” and was one of my favorites in the whole book. Dr. Aimee Morewood is a professor of Literacy Education in the C...

Welcome to another episode of the Teaching Literacy Podcast! In this episode, Dr. Tim Rasinski and Dr. Chase Young answer YOUR questions on reading fluency. We sent out a questionnaire in July for educators to submit questions about reading fluency. A big thanks to all who submitted questions, we received a worldwide response. I hope you enjoy this episode. If you do, make sure to share it with a colleague! Resources: Dr. Young’s website: thebestclass.org Dr. Rasinski’s website: timrasinski...

Welcome to this episode of the Teaching Literacy Podcast! In this episode Dr. Steve Graham joins me on the show to discuss research on the benefits of integrating reading and writing instruction. We talk research, theory, and practice. This episode has lots of great takeaways for your classroom- this is a show you won’t want to miss! Reference: Graham, S. (2020). The sciences of reading and writing must become more fully integrated. Reading Research Quarterly, 55, S35-S44.

Have a reading fluency question? We want to hear it! Dr. Tim Rasinski and Dr. Chase Young are joining me on the show to answer YOUR questions about reading. Interested? Copy and paste this link into your browser to submit your question: https://forms.gle/SQr4ay7ixZpNvW1s5 You have until July 23 to submit your question. Tune in in early August for the show!

Welcome to another episode! I am very fortunate to be joined by Dr. Seth Parsons in this episode. Dr. Parsons is a professor at George Mason University and recently co-edited a book with Dr. Margaret Vaughn entitled “Principles of Effective Literacy Instruction K-5.” The book is an excellent read- the 22 chapters are short, to the point, and do a great job conveying what the chapter topic means for classroom instruction. I highly recommend picking up the book (I bought mine on Amazon), it is a ...

What do eye movements tell us about reading comprehension? In this episode I talk with Drs. Kit and Eric Mohr about eye tracking evidence that supports goal directing reading. Image of Figure 1, referenced in the discussion Reference: Mohr, K. A. J., Downs, J. D., & Mohr, E. S. (2020). Mindful Reading: Eye-Tracking Evidence for Goal-Directed Instruction. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 64(3), 301–310. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1099

Welcome back to the Teaching Literacy Podcast! This is a fantastic interview to get us rolling again. Today I welcome Dr. Sarah K. Clark to discuss a series of studies she completed that integrated literacy and science instruction. Disciplinary Literacy Learning Modules from the Annenberg Foundation: What Is Disciplinary Literacy? References: Clark, S. K., Judd, E., Smith, L. K., & Ahlstrom, E. (2020). Examining the Effects of Integrated Science and Literacy Instruction to Teach Second-Grade...

Welcome to part 3 of 3 of this mini-series on thinking about comprehension. Strategy instruction is a key component of many classrooms, what what does research indicate about its effectiveness? Check out this episode to find out!

There’s several popular models of reading comprehension that are frequently talked about, such as Gough and Turner’s Simple View of Reading or Scarborough’s Rope. I enjoy these models and think they have a lot to tell us about reading comprehension. However, my favorite model of reading comprehension, and the one that I think has the most implications for reading instruction is Kintsch’s Construction Integration model. In this episode I explain why I prefer the CI model, describe how it suggests...

Hello! After a 7 month hiatus, the Teaching Literacy Podcast is back! Thanks for sticking with me. More to come!

How do you teach reading comprehension? Perhaps that is question you, or your colleagues, have asked. It’s a legitimate question; reading comprehension is very complex, with a lot of moving pieces. Further, there’s a lot of ongoing conversation about how reading comprehension instruction should (or should not) look like. But, what does research say about reading comprehension instruction? The next three episodes will explore reading comprehension research, and what it means for your instructio...

Welcome! I’m still busily working on a dissertation and supporting new teachers. Questions have been on my mind a lot this school year! How are they being used in classrooms? Is it effective? How can we enhance the use of questions in our classrooms? Two peer-reviewed articles that addressed these questions caught my eye recently. In this episode I chat about each article and provide my two cents. Below you will find the references to those articles, as well as other posted resources. I hope...

Hi! I’m busy writing a dissertation and coaching new teachers, but I wanted to drop a quick line and talk about what our previous guests on the show have been up to- and there’s been quite a bit. Check out this quick, 6 minute show to find out! ~Jake Articles Referenced in the Show: ILA Timothy And Cynthia Shanahan Outstanding Dissertation Award For 2020 Strong, J.Z. (2020). Investigating a Text Structure Intervention for Reading and Writing in Grades 4 and 5. Reading Research Quarterly, 55(...