Join us for this fascinating and informative conversation with Dr. Patricia Vadasy, researcher and literacy expert, as we explore phonics instruction, and the research behind it. We will consider the critical nature of alphabet knowledge in teaching young learners how to read and spell words. Throughout her career, Dr. Vadasy has worked to develop effective approaches to early phonics instruction. More recently, she published her research about instructional details that enhance phonics instruction, and effective approaches and details of preschool alphabet instruction. Her school-based intervention research has been funded since 1998 with grants from the U. S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. 

For classroom teachers and administrators who are determined to give early learners the best possible foundation to become successful readers, this conversation will give you the facts behind phonics instruction, the strategies, and impetus to move forward knowing your instruction is the best it can be.

Dr. Vadasy will review and discuss:

• The National Reading Panel findings about effective features of phonics instruction, including explicit, systematic, and synthetic phonics instruction
• How the research informs effective phonics instruction, including applying taught letter-sound correspondences and application to beginning decoding
• Individual differences in learning these skills and where students struggle
• The benefits of practice in reading words in isolation and in sentence and story contexts
• Providing student support in the classroom and in supplemental instruction