In this episode of the Lit Lab, Rhonda and Brandt discuss the One School One Book initiative with Mary Katherine Walker, an assistant principal at Pendleton Elementary School. The program aims to foster a love of reading among students, families, and the school community. Mary Katherine shares her experiences implementing the program, the challenges faced, and the creative strategies used to engage students of all ages. The conversation highlights the importance of literacy, family engagement, and the joy of reading in education.

In this episode of the Lit Lab, host Rhonda Hayes interviews retired educator April Gailey about her passion for instilling a love of reading in children. April shares her extensive teaching experience, the importance of reading aloud with enthusiasm, and the challenges she faced in engaging students. She emphasizes the significance of knowing students' interests and finding the right materials to encourage reluctant readers. The conversation also touches on strategies for maximizing reading time in the classroom and the importance of building relationships with students. April concludes with her hopes for the future of reading and key takeaways for educators.

In this episode, Rhonda and Brandt have a follow-up conversation with their grandson Mac, who has started kindergarten. They discuss the books Mac has been reading, including one about a goldfish and another about a frog. Mac shares his favorite books and talks about his teacher. He also mentions that he has learned about listening and following instructions in school. The conversation ends with a discussion about Mac's daily routine at school and his favorite and least favorite parts of the day.

Expect another great episode from The Lit Lab!

Today we interviewed my 5-year-old grandson. He tells us all about what he expects for kindergarten and what they will learn. We chatted about his teachers and what they had at his school. Use this episode to help teach you how to interact better with your younger students.

Expect another great episode from The Lit Lab!

In this Q&A episode, Rhonda answers a kindergarten teacher's question about incorporating a sound wall with her alphabet. She explains that a word wall is a student's first exposure to using a resource like a dictionary, and it helps children learn letter sounds and patterns. She suggests having an exemplar word for each letter sound combination on the word wall. Rhonda also discusses the use of mirrors to teach letter sounds and the purpose of a sound wall, which helps children see how to hold their mouths when making certain sounds. She emphasizes the importance of teaching the lesson and using mirrors with the children, rather than just putting up a sound wall without instruction. Rhonda concludes by mentioning that there is no research on sound walls, but they have become popular due to the emphasis on teaching phonics.

Lester Laminack, a retired college professor and children's book author, discusses the benefits of incorporating read-alouds into literacy instruction. He emphasizes that reading aloud helps build vocabulary, expand perspectives, and develop empathy. Laminack also provides guidelines for making the read-aloud experience engaging, including using tone, pacing, intensity, and mood to bring stories to life. He addresses concerns about the lack of time for read-alouds due to the focus on phonics and emphasizes the importance of read-alouds in building vocabulary and comprehension. Laminack also shares advice for young writers, encouraging them to keep a notebook, write regularly, and be willing to write badly in order to improve.

Today we interview my Aunt.

Having intentional conversations with students matters because if you can find out what students are interested in, then you can more thoughtfully plan and design instruction that includes students' interests, therefore, increasing student engagement.

This episode is the finale of season 1 of the Lit Lab. In today's episode, we interview Vicki Davis. She truly is a top educational influencer. She's an educator and IT Director at Sherwood Christian Academy in Albany, GA. She travels and speaks worldwide with tech giants like Microsoft and Google. She hosts the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast and interviews teachers around the world. THANKS, VICKI FOR JOINING US.

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