It’s a special roundtable on the Teaching Literacy Podcast! Host Dr. Jake Downs, Lori Southington, and Blythe Anderson record live from the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading (SSSR) conference in Rotterdam to bridge the gap between emerging research and classroom practice. The trio unpacks key studies on interactive read-alouds and morphology instruction, highlighting how teachers can…
In this episode of the Teaching Literacy Podcast, host Jake Downs sits down with Dr. Laura Tortorelli and Dr. John Strong to unpack how vocabulary and advanced decoding interact to help upper elementary students navigate complex academic texts. Discussing their recent study on multisyllabic decoding achievement, the researchers explain why treating vocabulary and word recognition as isolated…
In this episode, Jake sits down with Dr. Amanda Shimizu to discuss her research paper, A Multimodal Content Analysis of Popular Early Childhood Stories and Read-Alouds on YouTube , co-authored with Dr. Margaret Quinn. Together they analyzed the 50 most popular preschool read-aloud videos on YouTube over a one-year period, examining both video design and instructional quality. Reference: Shimizu,…
In this episode I sit down with the SRI Education research team—Dr. Dan Reynolds, Dr. Anna Jennerjohn, and Dr. Sara Rutherford-Quach—to unpack their learning brief, Beyond the Surface . This episode explores the gap between using high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) and achieving deep, robust reading comprehension. Read the Brief Here:…
This is a rebroadcast of Episode 245 from the Melissa and Lori Love Literacy Podcast – you can check out that episode here: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/read-like-us-building-fluency-through-repeated-reading/id1463219123?i=1000748503901 Make sure to check out the Literacy.io training on the Kat Framework for Comprehension this June! -June 24-25 in East Lansing Michigan -Individual…
In this episode we welcome Dr. Sharon Walpole, a professor at the University of Delaware. We explore the challenges teachers face in addressing varying student needs, Dr. Walpole’s pragmatic approach to differentiation, and the developmental roadmap for reading proficiency. Dr. Walpole shares insights on the importance of grade-level instruction, the flaws of certain assessment systems, and…
In this episode of the Teaching Literacy Podcast, host Jake Downs discusses with Dr. Michael Coyne from the University of Connecticut the concept of advanced phonemic awareness and its implications for early reading proficiency. Dr. Coyne shares findings from his recent study that examines the impact of using oral-only advanced phonemic awareness instruction on first graders. They explore the…
How can we best apply the Science of Reading to support multilingual learners? This episode tackles that critical question with Dr. Steven Amendum from the University of Delaware. We explore how evidence-based literacy instruction must leverage a student’s first language as a key asset, not a barrier. Dr. Amendum breaks down practical teaching strategies to boost decoding and reading comprehension…
In episode 69 of the Teaching Literacy Podcast, host Jake Downs speaks with Dr. Kay Wijekumar, Houston Endowed Chair in the Department of Teaching and Learning and Culture at Texas A&M University. They discuss the importance of teaching students to generate rather than find the main idea in texts, detailing Dr. Wijekumar’s evidence-based KAT framework (Knowledge Acquisition and Transformation).…
Dr. Adrea Truckenmiller and Dr. Eunsoo Cho discuss building a strategic assessment system in literacy education. They cover how to use data to inform reading instruction, the difference between screeners, diagnostics, curriculum based measures, and computer adaptive tests, and the importance of reliability in assessments. Common pitfalls like over-testing and teaching to the test are addressed,…
