Literacy Blogs

05 July, 2010

What Does It Mean that a Reading Program Works?

Recently, the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) posted a report on multi-sensory programs for teaching children with reading disabilities. The report indicated that Orton-Gillingham, Wilson Reading, and other similar programs lacked convincing empirical evidence of their effectiveness. This has set off a lot of angry e-mailing this weekend from those who “know” these methods work. http://http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/   Although I serve as a reading content expert for WWC, I had nothing to do with this report. They only involve me in those aspects of their work when they have a substantive question about reading instruction or assessment, and on this report, I guess there were ...

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26 June, 2010

On the Misuse of Research Evidence in Reading

Originally posted June 26, 2010; re-posted on August 31, 2017. This post is timely given some of what I saw on Twitter this week as well as some recent questions and responses to my posts. There is still a great hunger to use research to support one's claims rather than using research to try to figure out what instructional actions to take. Too many principals buying programs then seeking reasons why they did. I will write more about this soon.   I remember the first time I was asked to testify before Congress. I was so full of myself. Wow, what a big ...

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18 June, 2010

Summer of a Million Books

As I've written here before, I serve on the Board of Directors of Reach Out and Read, one of the most valuable reading promoters in the world. This summer they have launched a campaign to give a brand-new, age-appropriate book to one million children in need before Labor Day. The Summer of a Million Books campaign unites Reach Out and Read pediatricians and family physicians at 4,500 hospitals and clinics across the country in their mission to prepare America’s youngest children to succeed in school. And you can help.   Reach Out and Read developed the Summer of a Million Books in ...

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13 June, 2010

Should We Use Textbooks or Not?

I just read some emails on a literacy listserv that I subscribe to. They were arguing about whether to use textbooks in science. Some of my reading colleagues who are pro reading, and who are even pro reading in science, expressed animosity towards science textbooks. There were all kinds of reasons for this, some stated, some not. For one thing, they were sympathetic with science educators who want hands-on-science, and let's face it, hands on experiments can be cool (let me tell you sometime about burning up my classroom trash pail with a volcano).   The most basic reason these educators oppose ...

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02 June, 2010

Getting with the Disciplinary Literacy Fad

Get with the fad folks. It is in now to champion “disciplinary literacy.” I certainly support the idea of disciplinary literacy, but so many of the folks who tout this (that is, those who are in with the fad), don’t seem to have a clue what it is even about.   Traditionally, “content area reading” proponents said the right things about respecting the disciplines, but for the most part their agenda was about teaching reading skills using texts from math, science, and social studies. Their idea was more about how teachers could use K-W-L (or three-level guides or SQ3R) with a science ...

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17 May, 2010

How Literacy is Like Leukemia

Blast from the Past: This blog entry posted on May 17, 2010 and was re-posted on March 1, 2018. It explores the complex reasons why students have trouble learning to read—whether the main roots of those problems are due to disabilities (e.g., dyslexia) or social problems (e.g., poverty, racism). However, despite these profound causes of reading problems, there are two certainties: even with big problems kids are pretty resilient and making kids literate requires quality teaching. I love Malcolm Gladwell. He is a regular New Yorker contributor and authored The Tipping Point and Blink. Recently, he wrote about how new drugs are discovered, and as ...

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08 May, 2010

12 Ways to Improve Your Literacy Teaching this Summer

Our university held its graduation ceremony Thursday night. That means that it is almost time for your summer break, and man, have you earned it! I'm sure you're dog tired--the good kind of tired I hope where you can barely see straight, but through it you are proud of how things went for the kids.   And with this terrible economy many districts are laying off teachers (the worst I've seen in my whole career). All the more reason to kick back and take it easy.   But you are a professional teacher. And what is summer vacation for your kids, should really be ...

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14 April, 2010

Reading Aloud in the High School?

Recently, I came across some interesting stuff in Jay Mathews’s “Class Struggle” column in the Washington Post.   http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2010/04/should_high_schoolers_read_alo.html?referrer=emaillink"   Mr. Mathews explains that he noticed oral reading taking place during a high school classroom observation and he wondered whether this was a waste of time or a good idea. Various teachers chimed in, on both sides, with valuable insights. The column is worth a read—in fact, it would make a great kickoff to teacher discussions.   I’ve been in the field of reading education for a long time (I started tutoring inner city kids in reading 40 years ago). For that entire time, the professoriate ...

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04 April, 2010

Literacy in Northern Ireland

Sorry about my absence these past few weeks. I've missed writing here, but it couldn't be helped. We were off to work in Belfast, Northern Ireland for our friends at Barnardos (which is an amazing social service, educational charity/provider agency). And Cyndie and I have been fighting strep throats and bad colds ever since (I might be related to the folks who live in that part of the world, but my immunities are American).   In any event, I am happy to be back to share what I have learned. On my first day in Belfast, I was asked to talk about ...

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10 March, 2010

Seven Reasons to Love the Common Standards

Today the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers released the new draft of the common core standards for public comment. Yipee! I'm so happy to see these.   Here are 7 reasons you should be happy, too.   1. They are common! Unlike any reading/writing/language standards that we have had in the past, these are truly going to be widely adhered to. In the past, we never could have common tests or common curricula because everyone had different standards. Now there will be the United States and Texas (and these are such good standards, at some point I think Texas ...

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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.