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

Melissa & Lori discuss questions about reading comprehension from our new book, The Literacy 50: A Q&A Handbook for Teachers, and provide research-based answers and practical suggestions. We talk about the place of sustained silent reading in the school day and the best ways to assess a student's comprehension. We also discuss the concept of reading volume and how to support students in reading more.

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at [email protected].

Melissa & Lori discuss questions about phonemic awareness from our new book, The Literacy 50: A Q&A Handbook for Teachers. We talk about best practices for teaching phonemic awareness and whether to teach it with or without naming and showing letters. Additionally, we address the misconception that introducing letters in phonemic awareness instruction means transitioning to phonics, and they provide guidance on when and how to introduce letters in phonemic awareness instruction.

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at [email protected].

The tables are turned on us in today's episode! Anna Geiger interviews us about our new book, The Literacy 50. You might know Anna as The Measured Mom and host of the Triple R Teaching podcast. We loved divulging why we wrote the book, how educators can use it in classrooms and schools, and we even answer some hot topic questions! 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at [email protected].

Today's sneak peek episode gives you a behind the scenes look at why we wrote this book, the questions we answer, and resources we crafted just for you! 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at [email protected].

Unlock the potential in every multilingual learner as Claude Goldenberg, renowned professor emeritus of education at Stanford University, joins us to dispel myths and share crucial strategies in literacy education. Delve into the complexities of teaching reading to students mastering English, where educational rights meet the science of literacy. We promise a journey through the nuances of vocabulary acquisition and orthographic mapping, with Goldenberg guiding us to make academic content accessible without compromising on language development.

Ever wondered how the science of reading translates to multilingual classrooms? Look no further. We address the probabilistic nature of literacy learning, akin to the varied responses to a COVID-19 vaccine, and examine the relevance of neurolinguistics research for English learners. In a thought-provoking discussion, we challenge the notion that teaching strategies for monolingual and multilingual learners are worlds apart, instead highlighting their fundamental similarities and the necessity for a nuanced approach.

Join us as we navigate the foundations of reading development and learn how to best support emergent bilinguals. From the ARIES study to the pivotal role of phonemic awareness and fluency, we uncover the intricacies of teaching emergent bilingual children to read. Emphasizing the latest research, this episode is a clarion call for educators and advocates to embrace collaborative, well-informed practices in literacy education, ensuring that every learner's path to reading fluency is as effective and enlightened as possible.

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at [email protected].

We discuss various models for teaching English learners to read  with Magdalena Zavalia, CEO of the PAF Reading Program. We explore different types of models, including monolingual programs, transitional bilingual education, and dual language immersion. Magdalena emphasizes the importance of understanding students' needs and goals when implementing a dual language program. She also discusses the challenges and considerations for teachers and principals, including resources, professional development, curriculum, and scheduling. Magdalena highlights the benefits of dual language instruction for both native English speakers and English learners. 

Resources 

• Literacy Foundations for English Learners by Elsa Cardenas-Hagan
• Episode 119: How Reading Science Works for English Learners with Elsa Cardenas-Hagan
• Episode 152: Science of Reading for All Learners: Multilingual Learners with Claude Goldenberg
• Multitiered System of Supports for English Learners
• Colorin Colorado! A bilingual site for educators and families of English language learners
• Intelexia - Spanish Reading Program
• PAF Reading Program - English Reading Program

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at [email protected].

From August 5, 2022

Dr. Elsa Cardenas-Hagan joins the podcast to share that reading science works for English Learners. What does it mean to use evidence-based instruction to teach English Learners? Dr. Cardenas-Hagan asserts that every language has its own history, its own culture, its own use. Language supports literacy, and literacy support language. With this cyclical understanding, she explains how to use effective strategies for ALL learners. 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at [email protected].

In this conversation, Stephanie Stollar discusses the implementation of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS).  MTSS is a framework for school improvement that helps to provide support for students with various needs. The MTSS framework focuses on using data to identify barriers to student performance and making plans to eliminate those barriers. Stollar explains that word recognition skills are more discreet and sequential, while language comprehension skills are more unconstrained and complex. Stephanie recommends that special education resources should be blended with general education resources from the beginning, and students should receive intensive support as soon as it is needed, without having to go through a series of interventions and assessments. She also emphasizes the importance of evidence-aligned instruction and the need for team-based decision-making in the MTSS model.

Takeaways

• MTSS is a framework for school improvement that helps teachers provide support for students with various needs
• The tiers in MTSS are prevention of reading failure, with tier one being primary prevention for all students, tier two providing extra support for students at higher risk, and tier three offering intensive and individualized support for struggling readers
• Differentiate tier one instruction and provide targeted instruction based on screening and diagnostic data
• Assessments in MTSS include screening assessments to identify students at risk, diagnostic assessments to determine specific instructional needs, and progress monitoring assessments to track student progress.
• Blend special education resources with general education resources from the beginning and provide intensive support as soon as it is needed.
• Focus on evidence-aligned instruction and team-based decision-making in the MTSS model.

Resources 

• Stephanie's Reading Science Academy 
• Stephanie's MTSS Course 
• Watch Stephanie discuss...  
  • the importance of using universal screening data to reflect the effectiveness of Tier 1 instruction  and design core instruction 
  • the elements in a coordinated, comprehensive assessment system
  • why you should teach word recognition and language comprehension at the same time

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Savannah Campbell, a K-5 reading specialist, shares practical spelling tips for teachers. She emphasizes the importance of having students say the sounds or syllables as they spell, as it helps develop sound-symbol correspondence. Savannah also recommends interleaving, which involves practicing both new and old spelling skills to ensure mastery. Savannah also discusses the use of dictation, word chains and sound boxes for spelling instruction. Additionally, she advises keeping the same routine but varying the methods to keep students engaged. 

Takeaways

• Have students say the sounds or syllables as they spell to develop sound-symbol correspondence.
• Interleave new and old spelling skills to ensure mastery.
• Provide more spelling practice than you think is necessary.
• Keep the same routine but vary the methods to keep students engaged.
• Use word chains and sound boxes for spelling instruction.

Resources

• Follow Savannah on Instagram
• CampbellCreatesReaders website

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at [email protected].

 Pam Kastner discusses the connection between spelling and reading. She emphasizes that teaching spelling is teaching reading, as spelling is a higher linguistic skill that requires complete and accurate recall and memory for words. Spelling helps students understand the internal structure of words and improves their reading abilities. She suggests using instructional routines that integrate phonology, orthography, morphology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics to teach spelling effectively. 

Takeaways

• Teaching spelling is teaching reading, as spelling is a higher linguistic skill that requires complete and accurate recall and memory for words.
• Spelling helps students understand the internal structure of words and improves their reading abilities.
• Effective spelling instruction should be explicit, systematic, and teach spelling patterns from least complex to most complex.
• Instructional routines should integrate phonology, orthography, morphology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics to teach spelling effectively. Direct and systematic spelling instruction is essential for students' language development.
• Spelling inventories are valuable tools for assessing students' understanding of language and identifying areas for targeted instruction.
• Spelling can be used as a teaching tool, allowing students to learn from their errors and improve their spelling skills.
• Spelling instruction should be aligned with the research and evidence-based practices to ensure its effectiveness.

Resources

• Pam Kastner's Padlet with resources (password PT2)

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at [email protected].