For The Love Of Literacy

If you think you know how dyslexia affects children and adults please listen to this moving and uplifting podcast. Dyslexia causes confusion way beyond decoding. Roadblocks frequently arise during vocabulary, sight word and morphology development, and sentence construction. Often overlooked is how sentence structure and complex grammatical patterns can limit comprehension. . Marie Foley spend decades with undiagnosed dyslexia and ADHD. In this podcast, Marie reveals how she gained clarity and confidence about herself and written English by learning how words are built from morphemes and sentences from phrases. Her life was transformed by learning about spelling-meaning relationships and learning the functional relationships that words have grammatically.  Understanding how words function in sentences greatly improved her comprehension and writing ability. Marie studied Real Spelling and Structured Word Inquiry which brought clarity to written words. In her 50s, Marie began working with our second guest, Sara Lee, to understand how the words in sentences function together to create meaning. Sara turns grammar into a form of comprehension and a foundation for writing in the most gentle and clear way. Sara Lee is co-owner of Literacy Dr, a literacy intervention provider based out of Atlanta, Georgia, where she offers remediation and professional development in reading, writing, and grammar to a neurodiverse population of students. Sara holds a Masters in Applied Linguistics. Her background is in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, Structured Word Inquiry, and orthographic study. She also co-hosts Writing in the Trenches, an online support community for those who teach writing. Marie Foley:Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/703558627526950www.mariefoleyreading.comSara Lee:www.theliteracydr.comsara.lee@theliteracydr.comWriting in the Trenches Writers’ Support group: email Sara

Would you like to turn your Read Alouds into a dynamic lesson that improves language comprehension - the upper strands of Scarborough's Rope - as well as reading comprehension and sentence writing? Trina Spencer and Doug Peterson not only have been researching these topics for decades but have made Story Champs, a series of ready-to-use stories and scaffolds. See their videos below and watch a 15 minute lesson were a student goes from describing a story in three words to retelling the story using complex sentences. Story Champs® is a multitiered language program that helps educators and clinicians promote academic language of diverse students. Although the primary focus of Story Champs® is on the development of a strong oral language foundation through storytelling, it also promotes other aspects of academic language that are essential for school success through information retelling, vocabulary, inferencing, and writing.Trina and Doug have also developed DYMOND, a diagnostic assessment for language disorders and dyslexia, and CUBED -3 a series of screening and progress monitoring tools. Today’s guests are Trina Spencer and Douglas Peterson. Trina is a professor at Kansas University, a school psychologist and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Doug is also a speech-language pathologist and a Professor at Baylor University. Trina and Doug have been discussing today’s topic, the connection between language and literacy since they were in graduate school.   They hold differing views on this topic, which I appreciate very much. I highly recommend there talks on YouTube, called Comprehending Comprehension. Language Dynamics Group - LDG - to find out about Story Champs and Trina and Doug's great work:https://languagedynamicsgroup.com/ (LDG website to explore our tools) https://languagedynamicsgroup.com/research/ - research page with Infographics and complete references https://www.youtube.com/@languagedynamics (LDG’s YouTube Channel) https://languagedynamicsgroup.com/video-demonstrations/ (Videos of our tools demonstrated) https://languagedynamicsgroup.com/webinars-recorded/ (Archived and upcoming free webinars) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrr6gJ3Bl-g&t=158s (Sold Half a Story: Comprehending Comprehension Live Audience Show) http://trinastoolbox.com/# (I have a lot of updating to do, but there are a ton of free downloads on this site)

Deb Glaser, educational consultant and author focused on morphological instruction. Marcia Henry, distinguished professor and dyslexia researcher with decades of literacy work. They explore how morphology and etymology spark student interest. They discuss linking word structure to spelling, vocabulary, and sentence meaning. Practical classroom routines and tools for teaching morphemes from K–12 are highlighted.

Linnea Ehri, a distinguished professor known for her work on orthographic mapping, explains how morphemes bind spellings to meanings, enhancing sight word memory. Pete Bowers, an advocate of morphological binding theory, discusses how morphology connects orthography, phonology, and semantics, helping students grasp irregular words. Kenn Apel, an expert in morphological awareness, highlights assessment strategies and their importance in reading and spelling interventions. Together, they explore innovative ways to teach morphology and its critical role in literacy development.

Vocabulary & Morphology using Structured Word Inquiry by Lisa Barnett and Katie Squires is designed to help you implement lessons guided by the four essential questions of structured word inquiry. The book contains a teacher guide, lesson template, and student work packet. The comprehensive Teacher Resource Guide leads you through the four guiding questions of SWI to help the teacher present lessons to their students that will uncover key concepts of the structure of our spelling system and connect vocabulary words within and beyond the subject area you are studying. These connections are discovered through studying the interrelationships of morphology, etymology, and phonology, all while increasing and strengthening curricular area vocabulary, spelling, and critical thinking skills. The Student Worksheet Booklet allows students to complete short, meaningful activities with answer keys within the Teacher Guide. There are additional activities throughout the lessons and student work packet including a puzzle-piece note-taking sheet that can be made into a booklet of all the words and connections studied!Purchase Vocabulary and Morphology using Structured Word InquiryLisa Barnett’s Buzzing Classroom BlogLink tree - https://linktr.ee/EmpowerLC

Jennifer Constantine and Kara Lee have written an implementation guide to one of the most exciting areas of literacy instruction - Structured Word Inquiry. They are the authors of Structured Word Inquiry – An Implementation Guide for Teachers. About the book:We invite you to uncover the transformative power of Structured Word Inquiry (SWI) with this comprehensive implementation guide. SWI unveils the orderly structure underlying English spelling and empowers educators to demystify its complexities for students. This guide isn't merely theoretical; it’s a hands-on resource designed for those familiar with SWI principles. It bridges the gap between theory and practice, offering practical strategies to integrate SWI into daily teaching routines. The lessons acknowledge the inevitable wonderings and questions that arise in teaching orthography, and celebrates them as signs of growth. This book empowers educators to thrive alongside their students in mastering the intricacies of English spelling and morphology.Where to buy the book:Available on Amazon: https://a.co/d/1CREAqX Bulk Pricing Available: Email swiliteracy@gmail.com for more informationHow to contact us:Email: swiliteracy@gmail.comWebsite: https://www.swiliteracy.org/ Jen's Website: https://readingintervention.edublogs.org/ Kara's Website: https://www.hortoneducationalservices.com/ About the authors:Kara’s professional experience includes working as a school psychologist and intervention specialist, and she is currently the owner of a consulting, educator training, and private tutoring company. She has had extensive training in educational assessment, Orton-Gillingham, Structured Literacy, and Structured Word Inquiry. Kara has a Doctorate of Education in Reading Science and is an Instructor of Certified Academic Language Practitioners.  Jen has dedicated her career to teaching reading and spelling, first in public schools, and now in private practice as a Structured Literacy Dyslexia Interventionist. She explored many approaches and methodologies along the way. Yet, it wasn’t until she discovered Structured Word Inquiry that the picture truly came into focus. Jen has a Master’s in Literacy, a Reading Specialist credential, and is a licensed teacher in two states.