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The Literacy 50–A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night

In this episode, teacher Christina Winter, better known as Mrs. Winters Bliss on Instagram, talks about the practical application of sound walls in the classroom. She provides her top 3 tips and shares how sound walls can be used in instruction. She also provides ideas for how students can interact with sound walls, such as through dictation, chants, and games. 

Takeaways

• Sound walls can be used during direct instruction to introduce new phonemes and provide a reference for students. 
• Students can interact with sound walls through activities like dictation, chants, and games. 
• It is important to prioritize the most common sound-spelling patterns.
• Resources and tools, such as phoneme-grapheme dictionaries and frequency lists, can support teachers in implementing sound walls effectively.

Resources

• Mrs. Winters Bliss Website 
• FREE DOWNLOADABLE Science of Reading RESOURCES! 

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.

Sound wall expert Mary Dahlgren explains how sound walls differ from word walls, why it's important to teach all 44 speech sounds, and how sound walls can help students make sense of English. She shares evidence to support the use of sound walls in your classroom and gives practical advice for implementation. 

• Sound walls are an instructional tool to help students see and understand the 44 speech sounds of the English language.
• Sound walls provide a visual representation of the sounds and their corresponding spellings. 
• Sound walls help students make connections between sounds and letters.
• Sound walls support phonological awareness, phonics instruction, and the development of decoding skills.
• Sound walls are beneficial for all students, including English learners, as they provide a structured and visual approach to learning the sounds of the English language. Teachers should be aware of the different phonemes in their students' languages and teach the phonemes in English.

• Sound Walls: A Tool for Students to Use by Mary Dahlgren

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The Literacy 50–A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.

Takeaways

• Start with letter sounds that are easier to pronounce and more familiar to children.
• Engage children in learning activities that involve movement and play.
• Assess understanding and retention through quick and frequent assessments.

Resources

• Find Spencer on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook or ToddlersRead.com
• Check out these videos on Instagram: Teach a Toddler to Read in 3 Easy Steps, Mispronouncing Sounds, Fourth Graders Reading at K Level Where Do I Start?

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.

In this conversation, Becky Pallone and Michael Hart discuss how their phonemic awareness instruction  has evolved over time. They emphasize the importance of blending and segmenting as key skills in phonemic awareness and highlight the benefits of incorporating letters in phonemic awareness instruction. They will also provide practical tips for you! 

Takeaways

• Incorporating letters in phonemic awareness can strengthen letter-sound correspondence.
• Teachers should prioritize blending and segmenting in phonemic awareness instruction.
• Teacher knowledge and curriculum are both important in phonemic awareness instruction. 

Resources 

• Measured Mom CVC Word List
• Pam Kastner Wakelet Resources: The Literacy Collection
• Explicit Instruction, Anita Archer
• Continuous Phonation Webinar, Selina Gonzales Frye
• University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI)
• Goyen Foundation Twitter/X

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.

Melissa and Lori just returned from the Plain Talk About Literacy & Learning Conference in New Orleans and they will share their takeaways with YOU! Attendees called in while at the conference to share aha moments and key takeaways. You won't want to miss this one!

2024 Plain Talk Conference Presenters

Podcast Episodes We Mentioned

• Episode 44:  Elevating the Education Profession with The Right to Read Project
• Episode 116:  Sonia Cabell on the Importance of Content-Rich ELA Instruction
• Episode150: Science of Reading for ALL Students: Intervention for Secondary Students
• Episode158: Science of Reading Beyond Phonics: The Ultimate Goal of Reading with Doug Fisher
• Episode 170: All About Read-Alouds with Molly Ness

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The Literacy 50–A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.

Matt Burns discusses the importance of phonemic awareness in reading instruction. Phonemic awareness is an outcome of skilled reading, not a precursor, and it has a reciprocal relationship with reading. Matt also emphasizes the need to focus on decoding skills in second, third, and fourth grade, rather than solely on phonemic awareness. Matt provides practical takeaways for teachers and recommends additional resources for learning about phonemic awareness.

Takeaways

• Phonemic awareness is an outcome of skilled reading, not a precursor.
• Phonemic awareness and reading have a reciprocal relationship.
• Decoding skills are a strong predictor of reading success.
• Nonsense word fluency assessments can be beneficial for assessing decoding skills.
• Avoid teaching nonsense words and focus on decoding instead.

Resources

• Phonemic Awareness, Research, Misconceptions, and Fads with Dr. Matt Burns
• They Say You Can Do Phonemic Awareness Instruction “In the Dark”, But Should You? A Critical Evaluation of the Trend Toward Advanced Phonemic Awareness Training
• RIP to Advanced Phonemic Awareness | Shanahan on Literacy
• Phonemic Awareness with Letters YouTube video, Matt Burns
• Matt Burns YouTube Channel 
• National Reading Panel Report 
• Elkonin Boxes, Reading Rockets
• Florida Center for Reading Research 
• UFLI Foundations 
• Ep. 159: Back to School: Science of Reading or Snake Oil with Holly Lane 
• Road to the Code, Book 
• IES Practice Guides 
• Empirical Analysis of Drill Ratio Research: Refining the Instructional Level for Drill Tasks, Matt Burns (meta-analysis)

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.

Shayne Piasta discusses best practices for teaching alphabet knowledge. She tells us what the research suggests about teaching  letter names and sounds, why teaching a letter of the week may not be the most effective approach, and an order to teach letters. The best part? She shares concrete ideas and strategies for classroom practice. 

Takeaways

• Teach both letter names and sounds simultaneously.
• Consider the acrophonic principle, where the letter name gives clues to its sound.
• Avoid teaching letters of the week and consider a faster pacing for letter instruction.
• Be intentional about the order of teaching letters, considering children's names and frequency of letters in text.
• Use differentiated instruction and embedded mnemonics for effective alphabet instruction.

Resources

• Handbook on the Science of Early Literacy
• The Science of Early Alphabet Instruction, chapter 7
• Ohio State University Alphabet Learning and Instruction research and articles
• Ohio State University Early Literacy and Learning Lab
• Episode 164: Misconceptions About Learning to Read with Carolyn Strom 

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.

Summary
In this episode, the hosts discuss the RAND Model, a heuristic for thinking about reading comprehension. The model was developed in the late 1990s by the RAND Corporation in response to a need for more research on comprehension. The model considers three main components: the reader, the text, and the purpose or activity of reading. It emphasizes the active role of the reader in constructing meaning from the text and highlights the importance of text complexity, coherence, genre, and the context in which reading takes place. The hosts also explore the challenges of measuring reading comprehension and suggest a curriculum-based assessment approach.

Takeaways

• The RAND Model is a heuristic for thinking about reading comprehension that considers the reader, the text, and the purpose or activity of reading.
• Text complexity, coherence, genre, and the context in which reading takes place are important factors in comprehension.
• Measuring reading comprehension with standardized tests can be challenging due to the complexity of the construct.
• A curriculum-based assessment approach that measures comprehension within specific disciplines may provide a more accurate and fair assessment of reading ability.

Resources

• Ep. 177: The Five Pillars of Reading with Hugh Catts
• Ep. 178: The Simple View and Scarborough’s Reading Rope with Researcher Hugh Catts Five Pillars of Reading with Hugh Catts 
• Follow researcher Hugh Catts on Twitter (or X)
• A Heuristic for Thinking About Reading Comprehension, or the RAND Model 
• ICYMI: Ep. 118: Rethinking Reading Comprehension with Researcher Hugh Catts

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The Literacy 50–A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.

Summary
In this episode, Hugh Catts discusses two popular reading models: the Simple View of Reading and Scarborough's Reading Rope. The Simple View of Reading highlights the importance of word recognition and language comprehension in reading comprehension. It emphasizes that if a child struggles in one area, it will affect their overall reading comprehension. Scarborough's Reading Rope provides a more detailed breakdown of the components involved in reading, including background knowledge, vocabulary, language structures, verbal reasoning, strategies, and literacy knowledge. Both models help educators understand the complexity of reading and the interaction between different components.

Takeaways

• The Simple View of Reading emphasizes the importance of word recognition and language comprehension in reading comprehension.
• Scarborough's Reading Rope provides a more detailed breakdown of the components involved in reading.
• Both models highlight the complexity of reading and the interaction between different components.
• Effective reading instruction should focus on developing both word recognition and language comprehension skills.

Resources

• Ep. 177: The Five Pillars of Reading with Hugh Catts
• Follow researcher Hugh Catts on Twitter (or X)
• The Simple View of Reading  
• Scarborough’s Reading Rope 
• ICYMI: Ep. 118: Rethinking Reading Comprehension with Researcher Hugh Catts

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The Literacy 50–A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.

Summary

In this episode, the hosts discuss the five pillars from the National Reading Panel and their history. They explore the confusion that can arise from viewing these pillars as a model of how reading works. The role of fluency and the importance of differentiating instruction for the five pillars are also discussed. The conversation concludes with a reevaluation of the five pillars and a key takeaway to look beyond them. The next episodes will cover three other reading models.

Takeaways

• The five pillars from the National Reading Panel are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
• The five pillars should be viewed as interconnected and treated differently in instruction.
• The actual chapters of the National Reading Panel focus on alphabetics, fluency, and comprehension.
• It is important to look beyond the five pillars and consider other reading models.

Resources

• Follow researcher Hugh Catts on Twitter (or X)
• The National Reading Panel Report 
• The Five Pillars of Reading Graphic 
• The Narrow View of Reading, Alan Kamhi 
• The Narrow View of Reading Promotes a Broad View of Comprehension, Hugh Catts 
• ICYMI: Ep. 118: Rethinking Reading Comprehension with Researcher Hugh Catts

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The Literacy 50–A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.