Literacy Blogs

Blast from the Past: This blog posted on November 19, 2017, and was re-posted May 21, 2022. I would love to say that its original posting ended the practice of round robin reading. Alas, too many teachers continue to cling to the practice – main, I suspect, because they know not what else to do. And, at least some of the teachers who do manage to eschew the practice try to rely solely on silent reading, which is just not sufficient (monitoring students’ oral reading progress is informative, particularly in the primary grades). This blog may be worth a second ...

Teacher question: I’ve looked at your framework and am surprised that it doesn’t include oral language. I’m a kindergarten teacher and can’t imagine leaving that out. Am I misunderstanding something? Shanahan answer: I feel your pain.   Yes, you’re correct that my framework focuses on the teaching of phonological awareness, decoding/spelling, vocabulary, oral reading fluency, reading comprehension, and writing. But not oral language.   And, like you, I agonize over that omission (if it is one).   I emphasize PA, phonics, and the rest of those literacy components as the focus of teaching because research shows that teaching those things leads to improvements in literacy. You teach kids to ...

Teacher question:  A colleague asked me about using e-books in high school science classes instead of textbooks. I like the idea that e-books might be more current and kids would likely read outside of class if they didn’t have to lug a huge book home. However, I remember reading something about the brain processing the reading of e-books differently than traditional texts. Do you know of any sound research on that? Shanahan response: I knew this question was coming.   Back about 25 years ago or so, I just knew someone would ask me about such reading. So I conducted a small study.   No, I didn’t ...

  I often use this space to challenge myths about the teaching of reading.       And there are a bunch of those. (Sisyphus ‘R Us.)     Which one caught my eye this week?       A blog follower raised a question about educational policies aimed at getting all kids up to a third-grade reading level by Grade 3. He was surprised about my response, and maybe you will be, too.       There is a slew of studies that reveal the persistence of reading problems... for instance: http://www.shanahanonliteracy.com/blog/persistence-of-reading-problems-research-based-fact-or-urban-myth#sthash.rtzSGGAi.dpbs Those studies show that kids who are struggling with reading in the primary grades continue to ...

Blast from the Past: These days we're again hearing much about how requiring classroom reading time makes kids lifelong readers and fosters a love of reading. Given how widespread such practices are these days, one would think that reading is more popular than ever. Of course, that isn't the case. Perhaps requiring students to do something on teacher time isn't the best way to true love. This blog entry from 2017 makes the case for approaches aimed at getting kids to build reading into their lives instead of into ours. I'm intrigued by teachers who find ways to push books ...

Teacher question: I am a reading specialist at a K-5 elementary school and I am working with classroom teachers to implement a book buddy program where older students (2nd and 3rd grade) will read to younger students (K and 1st grade). I am planning to spend some time with the older students to coach them on selecting appropriate books and engaging their buddies by reading with prosody and stopping to ask questions, make observations, etc. I would love to hear if you have done any research on the effectiveness of such programs or if you have any tips on how to ...