Melissa & Lori Love Literacy ® | Science of Reading for Teachers

Angie Hanlin, current Superintendent in Wisconsin, led her former school from 13% to 100% reading proficiency. How? Angie shifted the focus from TEACHING to LEARNING.  She worked alongside her school teams with a relentless, laser-like focus on data, asking questions such as: Who is making progress? Who’s not? What are we going to do about it? Radical acceptance of the data helped educators move forward and put aside blame and shame. Key takeaway: All means ALL! Related EpisodesEp. 98: Improving Student Reading Growth in Months with Fluency Instruction and Practice Ep. 62: Effective Fluency Instruction with Tim Rasinski Ep. 63: Kindergarten Teacher Reaches 100% Success Using Evidence-Based Practices Ep. 103: From Workshop Model to Reading Science in Pentucket Resources Instructional strategies for 7 early literacy pillars by Patti Montgomery, Schools CubedDeveloping Assessment-Capable Visible Learners Grades K-12: Maximizing Skill, Will, and Thrill How Principals Affect Students and Schools: A Systematic Synthesis of Two Decades of Research by The Wallace Foundation The Reading Brain by the Center for Reading and Language Research, including Maryanne Wolf Connect with Melissa & LoriTwitterInstagramFacebookVisit our website to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum. If you’re enjoying Melissa & Lori Love Literacy, bring us to your school or event.We offer keynotes, presentations, and live podcast-style sessions focused on practical, science of reading–aligned strategies aligned to our podcast and book, The Literacy 50. Email LiteracyPodcast@greatminds.org to learn more.Get free resources and updates at literacypodcast.com.

The authors of Thinking Reading: What Every Secondary Teacher Needs to Know About Reading, James and Dianne Murphy, join Melissa and Lori to discuss secondary struggling readers. Where do secondary educators start with struggling students? Put simply, there are two parts to intervention: learning and practice (for automaticity). Keeping those in mind, target what students need to know, explicitly teach and practice, and keep it manageable and motivating. Related Episodes: Ep. 90: Improving Reading for Older Students with David Liben Part 1Ep. 91: Improving Reading for Older Students with David Liben Part 2 Resources Thinking Reading: What Every Secondary Teacher Needs to Know About Reading by James and Dianne MurphyConnect with us!Facebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter. Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.If you’re enjoying Melissa & Lori Love Literacy, bring us to your school or event.We offer keynotes, presentations, and live podcast-style sessions focused on practical, science of reading–aligned strategies aligned to our podcast and book, The Literacy 50. Email LiteracyPodcast@greatminds.org to learn more.Get free resources and updates at literacypodcast.com.

Join Melissa and Lori for their first Book Club episode! In this episode, they discuss the book Thinking Reading: What Every Secondary Teacher Needs to Know About Reading. They focus their discussion on Chapter 4: Helping struggling readers in the secondary classroom, and Chapter 6: What does it take for effective reading intervention at secondary school?  Related Episodes: Ep. 90: Improving Reading for Older Students with David Liben Part 1Ep. 91: Improving Reading for Older Students with David Liben Part 2 Resources: The Opportunity Myth by TNTPConnect with us!Facebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter. Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum. If you’re enjoying Melissa & Lori Love Literacy, bring us to your school or event.We offer keynotes, presentations, and live podcast-style sessions focused on practical, science of reading–aligned strategies aligned to our podcast and book, The Literacy 50. Email LiteracyPodcast@greatminds.org to learn more.Get free resources and updates at literacypodcast.com.

This episode is the first in a series on a really important topic: Assessment. How can we debunk the idea of ‘standards-aligned assessments’? What about ‘standards-aligned report cards’? Today’s guest teaches us that when we overfocus on the format of an assessment (i.e. the standards), we miss out on what matters most and lose track of the goal (i.e. comprehension). Comprehension is not a single construct. When we think about assessment data, there are two important questions to ask: Are the data useful? How are we preparing students for assessments? Are we confusing format with goals? The assessment data is a pathway back to the content. In case you’re wondering, here’s where the science of reading comes into play… knowledge building is a necessary and (very) important part of assessment! Related EpisodesEp. 35: Reading Assessments NEED an Upgrade! Ep. 37: Meredith Liben and Sue Pimentel on the Standards, Assessment, and Data Resources (bulleted list of resources mentioned in the podcast) Garbage In Garbage Out Beyond Multiple Choice conference agenda Jay McTighe Why the Pandemic Experts Failed (The Atlantic) What is the Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom (DIKW) Pyramid?  Researchers blast data analysis for teachers to help students (Hechinger Report) Why State Reading Tests Are Poor Benchmarks of Student Success by Hugh CattsEducational Redlining (Reading Groups) with Sonja Santelises Like most superintendents I cared a lot about test scores. Too much, it turns out. (Chalkbeat) Connect with us!Facebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter. If you’re enjoying Melissa & Lori Love Literacy, bring us to your school or event.We offer keynotes, presentations, and live podcast-style sessions focused on practical, science of reading–aligned strategies aligned to our podcast and book, The Literacy 50. Email LiteracyPodcast@greatminds.org to learn more.Get free resources and updates at literacypodcast.com.

In today’s episode we’re joined by two teachers from Skaneateles, NY - Seth and Kelly. Seth is a sixth grade ELA teacher and Kelly is a middle school librarian. They work together to ensure that all students have access to complex texts. With the right support, they believe that all students can engage in grade level tasks. Seth and Kelly share how their collaboration around the knowledge and tasks in Wit & Wisdom ELA enriches students' learning and teachers’ teaching. Together, they make an incredible, knowledge-rich team!Resources (bulleted list of resources mentioned in the podcast) VOR with David Liben Part 1 (Volume of Reading)VOR with David Liben Part 2 (Volume of Reading)WeVideo.com Related EpisodesEp. 76: Knowledge Building for Reading Success in Skaneateles School District Ep. 79: What Does Equitable ELA Instruction Require? Ep. 69: Wondering about Wit & Wisdom ELA? Follow us!Facebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter. Helping educators learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum. If you’re enjoying Melissa & Lori Love Literacy, bring us to your school or event.We offer keynotes, presentations, and live podcast-style sessions focused on practical, science of reading–aligned strategies aligned to our podcast and book, The Literacy 50. Email LiteracyPodcast@greatminds.org to learn more.Get free resources and updates at literacypodcast.com.

Episode Description Pentucket Regional School District  transitioned from balanced  literacy programs to teaching and learning with structured literacy and reading science. Coaches and leaders used data to support educators in understanding the purpose of the transition. They unpacked why the materials were different from what they previously used. Key takeaway: You can’t take your old practices with you and use them with the new materials. Pentucket currently utilizes Wit & Wisdom ELA, Geodes, Fundations, and Heggerty. Related EpisodesEp. 94: “If only I would have known…” Book Talk with Author Faith Borkowsky  Ep. 10: Noticing the #KnowledgeGap with Natalie Wexler Ep. 16: Scaling Literacy Success with Brian KingsleyEp. 69: Wondering about Wit & Wisdom ELA? Resources Grassroots Enthusiasm Powers Adoption of Evidence-Based ELA and Math CurriculaData Discussions Drive Progress: Pentucket's Curriculum Journey The Shift from Fountas & Pinnell to Research-Aligned Reading InstructionText at the Center (MEredith and Sue) Understanding Wit & Wisdom Great Minds Blog, including Preparation Protocol link Teaching with Complex Text: It’s a Complex Thing To Do Pentucket Teaching and Learning Blog Follow us!Facebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram For more resources, visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter. Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum. If you’re enjoying Melissa & Lori Love Literacy, bring us to your school or event.We offer keynotes, presentations, and live podcast-style sessions focused on practical, science of reading–aligned strategies aligned to our podcast and book, The Literacy 50. Email LiteracyPodcast@greatminds.org to learn more.Get free resources and updates at literacypodcast.com.

In today’s episode, we drop some knowledge with one of our favorite teachers, Heidi Jane. You might recognize her as Droppin Knowledge With Heidi on Instagram or LearningWithHeidi on TikTok! What’s the difference between sight words and heart words? How does knowing letter sounds help students when they begin decoding? Why did Heidi choose the trademark Literacy and Justice for All? Heidi shares her journey from balanced literacy to science of reading with the goal of reaching the everyday classroom teacher. Digressions include This Is Us, Mandy Moore, and TikTok. Related EpisodesEp. 63: Kinder Teacher Reaches 100% Success Using Evidence-Based PracticesEp. 70: Science of Reading Part 1: Decodable Texts, Sound Walls, and the Aim of Early Literacy Ep. 71: Science of Reading Part 2: Decodable Texts, Sound Walls, and the Aim of Early Literacy Ep. 66: Re-Thinking the Reading Rope with Nell Duke Resources Where to Begin - Check out Heidi’s recommendations for where to begin on your science of reading journey. Follow Heidi on TikTok and Instagram, and be sure to check out her website, LiteracyandJusticeforAll.Want Science of Reading merch? Heidi has it! Click here for tee shirts, sweatshirts, and more ways to flaunt reading science around your town! Follow us!Facebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter. If you’re enjoying Melissa & Lori Love Literacy, bring us to your school or event.We offer keynotes, presentations, and live podcast-style sessions focused on practical, science of reading–aligned strategies aligned to our podcast and book, The Literacy 50. Email LiteracyPodcast@greatminds.org to learn more.Get free resources and updates at literacypodcast.com.

This is the time when many districts are engaged in the curriculum adoption process, so we wanted to put this extremely information episode out for listeners who may have missed it. Cory Epler, CAO at Nebraska DOE, speaks about how they encourage the use of EdReports in episode 101. Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter that follows up with more information about choosing curricula! What goes on behind the scenes at EdReports.org? Tricia Parker and Jess Box share the gateways that EdReports uses to reviews curricula: standards alignment, quality, and usability. We ask the questions we all really want to know: Who are the curriculum reviewers? How do reviewers ensure standards alignment? What does it really mean for curricula to meet grade level standards? What does 'all green' really mean? How do complex texts, tasks, TDQs build over time to shape knowledge and coherence?Follow us!Facebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram If you’re enjoying Melissa & Lori Love Literacy, bring us to your school or event.We offer keynotes, presentations, and live podcast-style sessions focused on practical, science of reading–aligned strategies aligned to our podcast and book, The Literacy 50. Email LiteracyPodcast@greatminds.org to learn more.Get free resources and updates at literacypodcast.com.

Nebraska Dept of Education CAO, Cory Epler, joins us today to share why and how Nebraska transitioned to reading science with HQM. In the course of eight years, the state formed a partnership with EdReports and The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), built transparency of HQM in Local Education Agencies (LEAs), and provided guidance around high quality materials. These key actions created coherence and agency across the state. This mantra resonates: Make the best choice the easiest choice. Related EpisodesEp.38: Success Amidst a Pandemic in Sioux City, NEEp 77: Setting the Standard for Success with Author Morgan Polikoff Ep. 97: Going GLEAM with Lacey Robinson and Andrea Hancock Resources How the Nebraska Department of Education supports LEAs in choosing high quality materials (our favorite resource is the Professional Materials Map for Nebraska) Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO)Beyond Standards book by Morgan Polikoff EdReports.org Follow us!Facebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter. If you’re enjoying Melissa & Lori Love Literacy, bring us to your school or event.We offer keynotes, presentations, and live podcast-style sessions focused on practical, science of reading–aligned strategies aligned to our podcast and book, The Literacy 50. Email LiteracyPodcast@greatminds.org to learn more.Get free resources and updates at literacypodcast.com.

The axis of rating trauma is frequent and repetitive. Over time, the chronic trauma wears down kids who can’t read. This has devastating effects. In our official 100th episode, Dr. Steven Dyskstra discusses Trauma and Reading. He explains the connection between not being taught to read using evidence-based practices and the subsequent, unnecessary trauma this causes in children’s lives. Stepping away from science-based approaches creates issues for kids that don’t need to be there. This is a pervasive problem happening everywhere. Dr. Steven Dykstra is a psychologist, advocate, and troublemaker in the reading world.  He has worked with the most severely traumatized and mentally ill children for more than 25 years. His passion for reading comes from the recognition that the thousands of children he has served often pay the highest price for our failures and mistakes. Related Episodes:Ep. 74: Dyslexia and Reading Science: A Parent Advocate’s PerspectiveEp. 67: Learning to Read at 62 Years Old: A Conversation Illuminating Adult Literacy  Ep. 99: An Important Discussion about Reading with Our Dyslexic Children’s President, Brett TingleyResources: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) NAEP Report Card: Reading Teaching Reading is Rocket Science by Louisa MoatsTo subscribe to our newsletter, visit our website. Connect with Melissa & LoriTwitterInstagramFacebookIf you’re enjoying Melissa & Lori Love Literacy, bring us to your school or event.We offer keynotes, presentations, and live podcast-style sessions focused on practical, science of reading–aligned strategies aligned to our podcast and book, The Literacy 50. Email LiteracyPodcast@greatminds.org to learn more.Get free resources and updates at literacypodcast.com.