Reading teachers matter.

There is no nobler act than to teach someone to read.

Literacy is power.

It is the power to work and to provide for oneself and for one’s family; the power to participate in the civic and social life of our society; the power to learn; the power to pursue happiness.

We must be saved by love.

As teachers and parents we know that the literacy we strive to provide cannot be accomplished alone—we need to work together, and therefore we must be saved by love.

Most Recent Blog Posts

21 March, 2026

How Can We Take Advantage of Reading-Writing Relationships?

Blast from the Past: This blog entry posted first on February 22, 2020, and was reposted on March 21, 2026. The major update to this piece is the inclusion of a reference list, only one of the studies included in it would not have been avai...

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Teacher Question As my teachers continue learning together about text-centered planning, I would love your help with a quick reflection. When you sit down to plan a unit: How do you decide which comprehension standards the anchor text naturally requires? What steps do you take to analyze the text before identifying standards? How does the text guide the sequence of lessons and questions? Shanahan Responds: I’ll answer your questions. But before I do, let me try to fend off some of the defensive comments my response is sure to elicit. First, yes, I understand that teachers are...

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14 February, 2026

Are We Teaching Too Much Phonics?

Teacher question: I saw that Mark Seidenberg was complaining that there is now too much phonics instruction. What do you think of that? Shanahan replies: I have great respect for Dr. Seidenberg’s work but have long been critical of...

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One of the world’s premier literacy educators.

He studies reading and writing across all ages and abilities. Feel free to contact him.