Reading Teachers Lounge

This is our May 2025 bonus episode of the Reading Teachers Lounge podcast.  In these episodes, Shannon and Mary will share about the students they're helping in reading, the resources they're using, and the books and other materials they're studying to further their practical knowledge about the Science of Reading.  

In this May 2025 bonus podcast episode, Shannon and Mary review their summer plans and discuss assessments and summer reading recommendations.   Links for all the resources discussed are included below in the show notes.

RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE EPISODE:

1. Conquering Spelling Demons cards from Van Cleave store 
2. Dibels testing
3. Words Their Way spelling inventory
4. Basic Phonics Test
5. Emily Gibbons free emoji reading inventory
6. Write Score
7. Empowering Writers curriculum
8. Super Sentences (Bookworms)
9. Nat Geo for Kids
10. The Week Jr.
11. ADD magazine
12. Right Back at You by Carolyn Mackler   *Amazon affiliate link

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Dr. Pete Bowers shared how Structured Word Inquiry (SWI) transforms spelling and vocabulary into tools for deep thinking - perfect for engaging advanced and struggling readers in the elementary reading classroom. 
We encourage the listeners to also check out this episode on YouTube to learn from the visuals Dr. Bowers shared during the discussion (link is at the top of the show notes).

RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE EPISODE:

1. Our Youtube link to the episode
2. Pete Bower's Word Works Kingston website:  See MANY helpful links at the bottom of the page.   We use this homepage as a hub for SWI information.
3. Dr. Bowers' Monday 5 pm EST office hours link
4. Real Spelling Toolbox
5. Active View of Reading Duke, Cartwright, 2021
6. Homophone Principle - described in this lesson
7. David Share:  Self teaching 
8. "Decoding the brain's dictionary: Scientists map how neurons encode word meanings" from Bigthink.com
9. Spelling Out Orthography demonstration video from Dr. Bowers
10. Document describing a SWI hunt for all the jobs of the final, non-syllabic
11. Video from Dr. Bowers with Marie Foley about The Nested Combinatorial Nature of English Spelling
12. 2025 Reading League  presentation from Dr. Bowers about Morphological Instruction and Language Comprehension
13. Upcoming SWI Training in June 2025 with Pete Bowers and Rebecca Loveless
14. Upcoming 4 day in-person training with Dr. Bowers in July 2025 on Wolfe Island
15. Structured Word Inquiry: An Implementation Guide for Teachers by Jennifer A Constantine and Kara B Lee *Amazon affiliate link
16. Teaching How the Written Word Works by Peter Bowers (via www.wvced.com Store)
17. de Jong et al. “Let’s Talk Evidence – The Case for Combining Inquiry-Based and Direct Instruction.” Educational Research Review, vol. 39, 2023

• Bonus Episodes access through your podcast app
• Bonus episodes access through Patreon
• Free Rubrics Guide created by us
• Finding Good Books Guide created by us
• Information about our Patreon membership

Support the show

• Get Literacy Support through our Patreon
• Bonus Episodes access through your podcast app
• Bonus episodes access through Patreon
• Buy us a coffee
• Get a FREE Green Chef box using our link

Dr. Pete Bowers shared how Structured Word Inquiry (SWI) transforms spelling and vocabulary into tools for deep thinking - perfect for engaging advanced and struggling readers in the elementary reading classroom. 
We encourage the listeners to also check out this episode on YouTube to learn from the visuals Dr. Bowers shared during the discussion (link is at the top of the show notes).

RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE EPISODE:

1. Our Youtube link to the episode
2. Pete Bower's Word Works Kingston website:  See MANY helpful links at the bottom of the page.   We use this homepage as a hub for SWI information.
3. Dr. Bowers' Monday 5 pm EST office hours link
4. Real Spelling Toolbox
5. Active View of Reading Duke, Cartwright, 2021
6. Homophone Principle - described in this lesson
7. David Share:  Self teaching 
8. "Ultra-detailed brain map shows neurons that encode words’ meaning" Nature 631, 264 (2024)
9. Spelling Out Orthography demonstration video from Dr. Bowers
10. Document describing a SWI hunt for all the jobs of the final, non-syllabic
11. Video from Dr. Bowers with Marie Foley about The Nested Combinatorial Nature of English Spelling
12. 2025 Reading League  presentation from Dr. Bowers about Morphological Instruction and Language Comprehension
13. Upcoming SWI Training in June 2025 with Pete Bowers and Rebecca Loveless
14. Upcoming 4 day in-person training with Dr. Bowers in July 2025 on Wolfe Island
15. Structured Word Inquiry: An Implementation Guide for Teachers by Jennifer A Constantine and Kara B Lee *Amazon affiliate link
16. Teaching How the Written Word Works by Peter Bowers (via www.wvced.com Store)
17. de Jong et al. “Let’s Talk Evidence – The Case for Combining Inquiry-Based and Direct Instruction.” Educational Research Review, vol. 39, 2023

• Get Literacy Support through our Patreon

How can teachers effectively support advanced readers in elementary school? In this insightful episode, we’re joined by literacy expert Nancy Young to explore practical, evidence-based strategies for meeting the needs of gifted and high-achieving readers in the classroom.

Nancy shares her expertise on differentiation strategies, including offering choice in reading materials, using tiered assignments, and implementing project-based learning to keep advanced readers engaged. We also discuss how to encourage critical thinking, promote independent reading, and create meaningful peer discussion and mentorship opportunities.

Whether you’re a classroom teacher, reading specialist, or literacy coach, this episode offers valuable tools and inspiration to elevate your elementary reading instruction and ensure all students—especially your strongest readers—are challenged and supported.

RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE EPISODE:

1. Updated Ladder of Reading & Writing with link to usage permission information 
2. Chapter 2 of her book-free download
3. Guided Inquiry Design
4. SEM-R.   School-wide enrichment model for reading
5. William and Mary Center for Gifted Ed Resources
6. Climbing the Ladder of Reading & Writing by Nancy Young and Jan Hasbrouck *Amazon affiliate link
7. Contact Nancy via her website
8. Acceleration Institute
9. Curated resources regarding Academically Advanced/Gifted students on Nancy's website
10. Subject-specific acceleration across grade grouping *Google drive file download

• Bonus Episodes access through your podcast app
• Bonus episodes access through Patreon
• Free Rubrics Guide created by us
• Finding Good Books Guide created by us
• Information about our Patreon membership

Support the show

• Get Literacy Support through our Patreon
• Bonus Episodes access through your podcast app
• Bonus episodes access through Patreon
• Buy us a coffee
• Get a FREE Green Chef box using our link

How can teachers effectively support advanced readers in elementary school? In this insightful episode, we’re joined by literacy expert Nancy Young to explore practical, evidence-based strategies for meeting the needs of gifted and high-achieving readers in the classroom.

Nancy shares her expertise on differentiation strategies, including offering choice in reading materials, using tiered assignments, and implementing project-based learning to keep advanced readers engaged. We also discuss how to encourage critical thinking, promote independent reading, and create meaningful peer discussion and mentorship opportunities.

Whether you’re a classroom teacher, reading specialist, or literacy coach, this episode offers valuable tools and inspiration to elevate your elementary reading instruction and ensure all students—especially your strongest readers—are challenged and supported.

RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE EPISODE:

1. Updated Ladder of Reading & Writing with permissions for usage
2. Chapter 2 of her book-free download
3. Guided Inquiry Design
4. SEM-R.   School-wide enrichment model for reading
5. William and Mary Center for Gifted Ed Resources
6. Climbing the Ladder of Reading & Writing by Nancy Young and Jan Hasbrouck *Amazon affiliate link
7. contact Nancy via her website
8. Acceleration Institute
9. Subject-specific acceleration across grade grouping *Google drive file download

• Get Literacy Support through our Patreon

This is our April 2025 bonus episode of Reading Teachers Lounge podcast.  In these episodes, Shannon and Mary will share about the students they're helping in reading, the resources they're using, and the books and other materials they're studying to further their practical knowledge about the Science of Reading.  

In this April 2025 bonus podcast episode, Shannon and Mary chat about the tutoring and advocacy work they've been doing.    They talk about how they're preparing their students for the upcoming testing season.  They discuss some of the struggles and successes they're having implementing the new activities they've learned about in their Structured Work Inquiry trainings.  They also shared some of their favorite new resources from UFLI and Emily Gibbons.     Links for all the resources discussed are included below in the show notes.

RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE EPISODE:

1. Write Score
2. Khan Academy
3. Word Matrices
4. Dr. Bowers: Structured Word Inquiry
5. 4 guiding questions of SWI
6. Read Works passages
7. UFLI supplemental decodable passages
8. Emily Gibbons' new decodables

• Get Literacy Support through our Patreon

Shannon and Mary welcome Brandon Cardet-Hernadez from Mrs. Wordsmith to the RTL to chat about smart technology resources.  They talk about intentional uses of technology resources for instructional purposes and what skills will be required as our students advance in the next part of the 21st century.  Listeners will gain ideas for ways to incorporate technology to elevate students' learning.

RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE EPISODE:

1. Mrs. Wordsmith website
2. Edutopia article: SAMR model
3. How to use SAMR in Designing Instruction
4. Instagram for Mrs. Wordsmith
5. Facebook for Mrs. Wordsmith
6. Youtube for Mrs. Wordsmith
7. TikTok for Mrs. Wordsmith
8. Word Tag Vocabulary Learning app from Mrs. Wordsmith
9. Science of Reading white paper from Mrs. Wordsmith
10. Free Literacy resources from Mrs Wordsmith

• Bonus Episodes access through your podcast app
• Bonus episodes access through Patreon
• Free Rubrics Guide created by us
• Finding Good Books Guide created by us
• Information about our Patreon membership

Support the show

• Get Literacy Support through our Patreon
• Bonus Episodes access through your podcast app
• Bonus episodes access through Patreon
• Buy us a coffee
• Get a FREE Green Chef box using our link

Shannon and Mary welcome Brandon Cardet-Hernadez from Mrs. Wordsmith to the RTL to chat about smart technology resources.  They talk about intentional uses of technology resources for instructional purposes and what skills will be required as our students advance in the next part of the 21st century.  Listeners will gain ideas for ways to incorporate technology to elevate students' learning.

RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE EPISODE:

1. Mrs. Wordsmith website
2. Edutopia article: SAMR model
3. How to use SAMR in Designing Instruction
4. Instagram for Mrs. Wordsmith
5. Facebook for Mrs. Wordsmith
6. Youtube for Mrs. Wordsmith
7. TikTok for Mrs. Wordsmith
8. Word Tag Vocabulary Learning app from Mrs. Wordsmith
9. Science of Reading white paper from Mrs. Wordsmith
10. Free Literacy resources from Mrs Wordsmith

• Get Literacy Support through our Patreon

This is our March 2025 exclusive bonus episode of Reading Teachers Lounge podcast.  In these bonus episodes, Shannon and Mary will share about the students they're helping in reading, the resources they're using, and the books and other materials they're studying to further their practical knowledge about the Science of Reading.  

In this episode, Shannon and Mary provide details about their tutoring students of various ages and how they're using different curriculum resources with their readers.    Shannon describes how she's using some Conquering Spelling Demons cards that she purchased from VanCleave's website. She also shares how she's combining the practice of Structured Word Inquiry with Morpheme Magic curriculum resources.   Mary talks about how she uses fluency phrases from FCRR with her students and also describes some idioms activities.   Both Shannon and Mary are enjoying the use of new resources they got from Mrs. Wordsmith and The Fidget Game, such as the Squishy Land, King Komodo, and Blah, Blah, Blah games.

RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE EPISODE:

1. Van Cleave store: Conquering Spelling Demons
2. Van Cleave vocabulary resources store
3. Wilson Fundations Trick Word Lists
4. FCRR: Phrase Haste (Fluency with Idioms)
5. FCRR: Fast Phrases (Fluency activity)
6. Squishyland from the Fidget Game *Amazon affiliate link
7. King Komodo from the Fidget Game *Amazon affiliate link
8. Blah Blah Blah Card Game from Mrs. Wordsmith *Amazon affiliate link
9. Morpheme Magic
10. Tutor Success Academy
11. Dr. Bowers: Structured Word Inquiry

• Get Literacy Support through our Patreon

This is our February 2025 exclusive bonus episode of Reading Teachers Lounge podcast.  In these bonus episodes, Shannon and Mary will share about the students they're helping in reading, the resources they're using, and the books and other materials they're studying to further their practical knowledge about the Science of Reading.  

We start this episode with an apology and explanation for the missing January episode and the delay in publishing this one.  (Back in January, Shannon's computer crashed unexpectedly and they lost 3 regular podcast episodes and the January bonus episode in the hard drive crash).

In this February 2025 bonus episode, Shannon and Mary provide details about their tutoring students of various ages and how they're using different curriculum resources with their readers.    Mary shares how she's having courageous conversations with teachers, parents, and administrators through her advocacy work.  Shannon and Mary chat about the resources they're using with their tutoring students:  Bookworms, Morpheme Magic, Write Score Super Sentences, SWI, and Word Matrices.  Check out the links below for more information about the resources mentioned.  

1. From Emotions to Advocacy by Peter W. D. Wright and Pamela Darr Wright *Amazon affiliate link
2. Wrights Law
3. Word Matrices
4. Super Sentences demonstration video
5. Super Sentences Bookworms example
6. Bookworms Grade 3 Module 4: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
7. Write Score
8. Pete Bowers' website  -lots of helpful links at the bottom of the home page
9. Spelling Out Orthography
10. free once a week Zoom with Dr. Pete Bowers about SWI 
11. Structed Word Inquiry for Early Readers
12. Cox Campus Structured Literacy course

• Get Literacy Support through our Patreon