Join Leslie, Mara, and Elizabeth Jimenez Salinas as they discuss the "superpowers" of being bilingual and practical strategies to implement in the classroom to help all English learners. Elizabeth brings her knowledge and experience from her days as a bilingual educator, advocate and consultant. Elizabeth is amazing!

Click on the following links to access the resources mentioned in this podcast:

Cognates Resources

Eradicating Learned Passivity

Homework Questions and Prompts for Long Term English Learners

Language Organizer

Reparable Harm Document

Leading Literacy is so excited to have Emily Hanford! Emily is a senior education correspondent at American Public Media Reports and a total science of reading rockstar! She's been working in public media for over 2 decades as a reporter, producer, news editor, and program host. She's won all kind of awards and is one of our reading heroes. Be prepared to have your mind blown!

Click on the following links to read Emily Hanford's articles:

Hard Words

At a Loss for Words

What the Words Say

Natalie Wexler shares her insights and thoughts with Leslie and Mara about her two books: The Knowledge Gap and The Writing Revolution. Join the conversation as Natalie discusses the importance of immersing all students of varied socioeconomic backgrounds, with content knowledge about the world and then linking that knowledge to explicit writing instruction.

Click on the following links to read Natalie Wexler's articles:

The Need for Explicit Instruction in Teaching Students to Write Well

Elementary Education Has Gone Terribly Wrong

Leslie & Mara welcome Dr. Carolyn Strom - first grade teacher, turned reading specialist/literacy consultant, turned NYU Professor. Carolyn joins the podcast to discuss the pervasive gaps between research and practice and the importance of connecting the two for our earliest learners - whose brains are developing the most! You won't want to miss this lively conversation!

Click here to download a copy Dr. Strom's Family Playlist and Extension Activities.

Leslie & Mara are thrilled to chat with their dear friend and spell master extraordinaire, Donna Van Allen! If you've ever wondered what it's like to host a county-wide spelling bee, look no further. In this short episode, Donna shares tips for future spelling bee contestants and her experiences from over a decade as the spell master for the Los Angeles County Spelling Bee. Is it possible to stump a spell master? Find out!

Welcome to Leading Literacy, a new podcast from Los Angeles County Office of Education's Reading Language Arts Unit. In this first episode, we get to know Leslie and Mara and find out why they decided to give podcasting a shot.