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

What does the research say about small group reading instruction?

Resources

• Episode 142: Structured Literacy in Small Group Time
• Episode 143: Maximizing Small Group Reading Instruction 
• Maximizing Small Group Reading Instruction (Conradi-Smith, Amendum, Williams, 2022)
• Differentiated Literacy Instruction: Boondoggle or Best Practice? (Puzio, Colby, Nichols, 2020)
• Meta-Analyses of the Effects of Tier 2 Type Reading Interventions in Grades K-3 (Wanzek, et. al, 2016)  

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 JULY 7, 2023

Today we talk about fluency and assessment with Jan Hasbrouck. She shares tips and tricks for how to to best assess and teach fluency. She also debunks frequent fluency misunderstandings and explains the scientific evidence that underlies the Hasbrouck-Tindal Oral Reading Fluency Chart.  

Note: During the podcast, we mentioned we would link Jan’s previous studies on ORF. But… we want to make sure the most recent information (Fluency Norms Chart 2017 Update) is the one that is prioritized for instructional use, so we’ve linked that to avoid confusion. 

 Resources

• Hasbrouck-Tindal Oral Reading Fluency Chart
• Fluency Norms Chart (2017 Update) 
• Developing Fluent Readers by Jan Hasbrouck, Reading Rockets
• Understanding and Assessing Fluency by Jan Hasbrouck, Reading Rockets
• Tim Rasinski Multidimensional Fluency Rubric 
• NAEP Fluency Scale 
• What Does “Below Basic” Mean on NAEP Reading? 

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].

Is your district adopting a new English language arts/literacy curriculum? Have you wondered how to tell if an ELA curriculum is “knowledge-building?” Today we’ll be talking to Barbara Davidson and Sue Pimentel about a new curriculum review tool from Knowledge Matters which can be a helpful guide when navigating the curriculum adoption process. 

Resources

• Knowledge Matters Campaign Curriculum Review Tool 
• Marilyn Jager Adams Advancing Our Students’ Language and Literacy 
• Melissa and Lori Love Literacy podcast Episode 170: All About Read Alouds
• Scaling the "Dinosaur Effect" 

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 JULY 14, 2023

What if you could unlock the secrets to fluency instruction in literacy, and transform your students into confident and skilled readers? Join us as we delve into this crucial topic with Nathaniel Swain, Senior Lecturer at La Trobe University in Australia, who shares his expertise on the three components of fluency: speed, accuracy, and prosody. Let's explore together how balancing speed with comprehension can make all the difference in today's digital age, where skimming and scrolling are the new norm.

We discuss a variety of practical strategies to help students practice fluency in the classroom, such as choral reading and paired reading. Nathaniel also sheds light on the role of technology in simplifying the process of creating engaging materials. Discover how to create an environment that fosters student engagement and understanding, and learn the differences between fluency instruction in primary and intermediate classes.

Finally, we examine the value of fluency in reading instruction and how it can be integrated into the literacy block. Nathaniel explains the self-teaching hypothesis and emphasizes the importance of exposing students to unfamiliar words and challenging texts. Don't miss this insightful episode packed with tips and strategies to help your students become fluent and confident readers!

Resources

• Think Forward Educators
• Five Ways to Focus on Fluency, Think Forward Educators Blog 
• Fluency Rubric, Tim Rasinski
• Readers Theater Scripts, Chase Young
• Fluency Resources, Tim Rasinski 
• Nathaniel Swain on Writing to Learn, ERRR Podcast

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].

Funds of Knowledge are the skills and knowledge gained by daily routines and practices, as well as cultural and historical interactions. It’s the social and cultural “stuff” that students know through personal experiences.  

Background knowledge is the amount of information or knowledge someone has on a topic. Both funds of knowledge and background knowledge give us connection points for learning, and they’re both considered types of prior knowledge. 

So what does this mean for instruction? 

We should leverage our students' - and families’ - funds of knowledge when possible. We can use students' funds of knowledge and continue to build background knowledge on topics of study. 

Resources

• Episode 170: All About Read-Alouds with Molly Ness  
• Funds of Knowledge Toolkit from Washington state 
• Funds of Knowledge for Teaching

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 4, 2023

What if the key to unlocking your students' reading comprehension could be found through a deeper understanding of the intricate processes at work in their minds? Prepare to have your teaching world transformed as we journey with reading comprehension expert and acclaimed author, Nancy Hennessy. Together, we’ll map out the cognitive and linguistic processes that underpin comprehension, and navigate the complex interaction between a reader's knowledge, the text itself, and the author's intent.

As teachers, we play an integral role in shaping the reading journey of our students. Witness how the Reading Comprehension Blueprint can revolutionize your instructional design as we discuss how to thoughtfully consider the task, text, and context. Learn how to integrate prior background knowledge and foster mental models of understanding. Be part of our examination of comprehension as an essential pillar of reading and join us as we demystify the science behind this crucial skill.

Finally, imagine having a blueprint that offers a flexible framework that aligns seamlessly with the science of comprehension. Listen as we delve into the importance of planning for instruction, pinpointing the key takeaways for your students, and exploring types of texts and text sets. Learn how to identify the contributors to comprehension and teach your students to become masters of their own understanding. Buckle up and get ready to revolutionize your approach to teaching reading comprehension.

Resources

• The Reading Comprehension Blueprint From The Reading Comprehension Blueprint by Nancy Lewis Hennessy. Copyright © 2021 by Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved
• Expert Minute Video-Thinking about Comprehension: Nancy Hennessy
• Rethinking How to Promote Reading Comprehension, American Federation of Teachers by Hugh Catts
• Ep. 118 Rethinking Reading Comprehension with Researcher Hugh Catts, podcast
• AIM FCRR Background Knowledge Research 

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].

Are You Adopting a New ELA Curriculum? Where Do You Start?

One place to start your curriculum adoption journey is EdReports. It’s not the ONLY place by any means, but it is a helpful jumping off point. EdReports asks educator-led review teams to use specific criteria to tell if a curricula meets, partially meets, or does not meet expectations. They review ELA, math, and science curricula and provide public reports with detailed insight into the materials.

Resources

• EdReports.org 
• EdReports.org: Science of Reading Snapshots 
• A Closer Look at the Five Essential Components of Effective Reading Instruction 
• National Reading Panel - Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Readin 
• The Reading League Curriculum Evaluation Guidelines 
• Knowledge Matters Review Tool 

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 October 21, 2021

Kory Jensen is a 4th grade teacher in Colorado, obsessed with learning more about reading science! He read The Knowledge Gap by Natalie Wexler… which set him off to learn more about knowledge building. 

On today’s podcast, he talks about how background knowledge impacts his students’ comprehension and engagement (spoiler alert: they love going deep into topics!). He provides real-life examples and ways to supplement knowledge on topics through experiences, experiments, texts, videos, and more. Kory’s optimism shines through and we can’t get enough of his lifelong learner spirit. “When you build knowledge and give students opportunities to learn, you’ll be impressed by what they can do.” Thanks, Kory! 

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].

A curriculum evaluation tool that helps teachers, leaders, and parents, determine if a curriculum meets high quality standards or not. 

There are two tools we recommend for curriculum review. These tools feel complementary to each other, so we recommend using both, starting with The Reading League’s Curriculum Evaluation Guidelines, then digging deeper into the knowledge component of a curriculum with the Knowledge Matters Review Tool. 

Resources

• The Reading League Curriculum Evaluation Guidelines 
• Knowledge Matters Review Tool 

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 we talk to educator and author Molly Ness about intentionally planning for read-alouds. Molly will share an easy to prepare protocol for a read-aloud in any grade level or content area. 

Resources

• Molly's Website - purchase her book! 

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].