Join Dr. Louisa Moats, President of Moats Associates Consulting, as she unwinds decoding, a strand of Scarborough’s Reading Rope. In the third episode of our Deconstructing the Rope series, Louisa highlights the significance of decoding in the science of reading and discusses the value of becoming students of our own language. She also mentions the reciprocal relationship between decoding and encoding and why both are essential to provide effective phonics instruction to children in the classroom.

Quotes:

“We need to be students of our own language so that when we accept the responsibility of teaching kids how it works, we’re very comfortable.”

“We have much more insight into how kids learn any language-based academic skill, not only from neuroscience but also cognitive, developmental, linguistic, and educational intervention research.”

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Episode timestamps*
02:00 Introduction: Who is Louisa Moats?
07:00 The Importance of teaching teachers
09:00 Changes in literacy education over the years
17:00 Decoding and encoding in reading
22:00 The complexity of the English language
26:00 Systematic and explicit instruction
37:00 Spelling in relationship with the reading process
43:00 The role of decodable texts
46:00 Final thoughts and key takeaways
*Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute