Literacy Blogs

            For nearly a century, leading educators and school textbooks have encouraged teachers to set a purpose for reading. Sometimes these purposes are called “motivation” or they might be stated as questions, “What is a population?” or “What is the major problem the main character faces?”             It makes sense. We want our kids to be purposeful and such purpose-focused reading leads to higher comprehension, right?             Not exactly. Researchers (e.g., Richard Mayer, John Guthrie) have shown that, indeed, if you set a specific purpose for reading, students will do a better job of accomplishing that purpose. So far ...

  Question:          I am currently teaching workshops and courses on reading and the Common Core and have approached these with regard to disciplinary literacy.  So many of the teachers involved are seeing the value of creating discipline-specific reading experiences in their classrooms. This is especially true of secondary teachers but upper elementary as well.            Where we are having a question is how can this apply to kindergarten classrooms. We discussed using texts that focus on science and social studies topics, how the authors might get their information, and focusing on a text structure if one is ...

Blast from the Past: This blog first posted April 3, 2016 and was re-posted on June 9, 2023. It contains an important reminder that the ultimate purpose of a reading lesson is NOT to ensure that kids accomplish high comprehension of the texts that we are using to teach reading comprehension. So many teachers -- and supposed authorities on reading -- have lost sight of this. That's why they have developed so many ways that make high comprehension (of that day's text) certain, but that do little to make students stronger and more independent as readers. This blog entry highlights ...

Question: I’m confused. Our standards say that we have to teach kids to read at 820 Lexiles, but my third-graders aren’t even close to that. They are instructional at Level N on the Fountas & Pinnell gradient that my school uses. This makes no sense. How can I get my kids to such a high level in the time that we have? Shanahan response:             I receive few letters on this, but when visiting schools this confusion is often apparent. Teachers either ignore the level specifications of the standards or assume that teaching kids at "level N", as they have been doing, must be ...

Putting on Your Underwear First: Why Instructional Sequence Doesn’t Always Matter Teacher’s Question:   Is there a particular order in which teachers should teach the letter sounds?  Shanahan’s response: It makes sense to put your underwear on before you put on a skirt, shirt, blouse, or pants. Unless you’re Madonna. Then the usual ordering of things doesn’t necessarily get the job done. Madonna changed the sequence from bra/blouse to blouse/bra and became a star. (That she is wildly talented may have also had something to do with that). Many teachers, principals, parents, and policymakers expect the proper ordering of letters and letter sounds in a curriculum to ...