Usually reading seatwork is work aimed at keeping kids busy rather than teaching them. This podcast suggests some ways to make seatwork a plus rather than a minus when it comes to reading achievement.

With all of the emphasis these days on a "science of reading," is there any place for the idea of an "art of teaching?" This presentation explains the role that these two sources of success play and how they may work together.

There are arguments in reading circles about the best way to teach phonics -- should the focus be on decoding from print to speech (like someone sounding out a word) or from speech to print (like someone trying to spell). This podcast will explore the evidence on both sides.

This podcast explores the value of teaching students to read the graphics in content area texts. Although pictures can distract from the word reading of young children, as they confront more complex texts they will need to learn how to interpret the graphics and this podcast suggests how that ...

This podcast provides answers to frequently asked questions about fluency instruction. It considers why we teach fluency, how we can teach it effectively, the kinds of books to use, how to match kids for paired reading, how fluent kids need to be, how much fluency instruction to provide. If yo...

Research shows that students are best taught with challenging texts -- texts that in the past would have been deemed "frustration level" and eschewed for instruction. Teaching with grade level texts ensures that students will reach the levels of literacy needed for full participation in societ...

Many school districts are considering going to a 4-day school week. This would help solve their problem in getting substitutes, reduce lunch program costs, and make many of their employees happy. But what will it do to reading achievement? This podcast explores the research on instructional ti...

Many phonics proponents claim that the best way to teach phonics is multi-sensorilly with tracing and similar activities. This podcast reveals what research studies have to say about those claims.

This episode considers the value -- and limitations of using choral reading in the teaching of oral reading fluency.

This "blast from the past" revisits -- revises -- a blog posting from 2018. This podcast explains what the research has to say about teaching with decodable text. The idea of teaching students with decodables is a hot topic in reading education these days. Find out what research has to say abo...