If you would like to get into a good argument, tell someone when reading instruction should begin. I'm always surprised at how many people have an opinion on that topic, and how vociferously they sometimes share it. This podcast will reveal what we know about the best time to start teaching re...

This podcast explores the unfortunate implications of confusing curriculum and instruction. Teachers would do better to distinguish those concepts and to coordinate the one with the other.

Reading ability is often measured through oral reading fluency. These days that means having students read passages aloud and counting the numbers of words per minute read accurately. While this has value, it can lead teachers to encourage reading speed over the other elements of fluency (accu...

For years, teachers were told that teaching English grammar had no impact on reading comprehension or quality of writing. A more recent substantial body of evidence reveals the importance of sentence comprehension in comprehension. This podcast examines that evidence and makes instructional su...

Each year, Shanahan on Literacy identifies the highest rated national, regional, and international Literacy Charities. Find out which ones you want to help -- and which might be a source of support for your students and school.

Research indicates that teaching reading at students' "reading levels" provides no advantages and may do harm when it comes to learning. However, many teachers are less worried about learning, and more concerned about the impact teaching with complex text may have on students' classroom behavi...

Recently, there have been claims that reading achievement is being suppressed because schools are teaching reading with excerpts and other short pieces rather than with complete books. These critics say that they want to go back to a time when reading was taught with complete books. This podca...

Are we making our instructional decisions based upon comprehension data or learning data? Is our purpose to make sure that students gain immediate comprehension of the instructional text or is it to improve kids' reading ability so they will be more successful with future texts? The answer mig...

I've argued against teaching reading at students' instructional levels. Does that mean that I'm against running records and informal reading inventories? What could such tests possibly provide if you aren't teaching with leveled books? This podcast will answer those questions and many more.

This podcast explores the role that pictures play in teaching decoding, vocabulary, and reading comprehension.