In episode 69 of the Teaching Literacy Podcast, host Jake Downs speaks with Dr. Kay Wijekumar, Houston Endowed Chair in the Department of Teaching and Learning and Culture at Texas A&M University. They discuss the importance of teaching students to generate rather than find the main idea in texts, detailing Dr. Wijekumar’s evidence-based KAT framework (Knowledge Acquisition and Transformation). The episode delves into how the main idea is foundational for reading comprehension and explores practical strategies for teachers, touching on the inefficacies of current curricular practices. Dr. Wijekumar highlights her website, literacy.io, which offers resources and professional development for educators. The conversation also includes a discussion on the critical role of text structures, and how principals and coaches can support teachers in implementing these strategies effectively.

00:00 Show Opening
02:23 Literacy as a Civil Right
04:47 Literacy.io: A Resource for Teachers
08:48 Challenges in Identifying the Main Idea
12:10 Generating vs. Finding the Main Idea
15:49 Knowledge Acquisition and Transformation (KAT) Framework
25:11 Text Structure and Main Idea
34:15 Cause, Problem, Solution Text Structure
35:59 Identifying Causes and Solutions in Education
38:59 The KAT Framework: Knowledge, Acquisition, and Transformation
40:31 Implementing the KAT Framework in Classrooms
41:37 Scaffolding and Sentence Stems for Effective Learning
49:03 Inference Questions and Background Knowledge
01:00:59 Teachers and Coaches: Improving Main Idea Identification
01:07:55 Conclusion and Optimism for Literacy Instruction
01:10:40 Jake’s Take: What Matters Most?

References
Hudson, A. K., Owens, J., Moore, K. A., Lambright, K., & Wijekumar, K. (2021). “What’s the Main Idea?”: Using Text Structure to Build Comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 75(1), 113–118. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2016

Rice, M., & Wijekumar, K. (2024). Inference skills for reading: A meta-analysis of instructional practices. Journal of Educational Psychology, 116(4), 569–589. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000855

Rice, M., Wijekumar, K. (Kay), Lambright, K., & Stack, A. (2024). Promoting Inference Generation: Using Questioning and Strategy Instruction to Support Upper Elementary Students. The Reading Teacher, 78(2), 121–130. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2353

Wijekumar, K., Beerwinkle, A., McKeown, D., Zhang, S., & Joshi, R. M. (2020). The “GIST” of the reading comprehension problem in grades 4 and 5. Dyslexia, 26(3), 323–340. https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.1647

Wijekumar, K., Hudson, A., Lambright, K., Owens, J. K., Binks-Cantrell, E., Beerwinkle, A., & Stack, A. (2023). Knowledge acquisition and transformation (KAT) using text structures. The Reading League Journal.