Liza
@liza-on-reading.bsky.social
Parent and (very part-time) reading tutor in Toronto, interested in the research on effective instruction and finding what works for our hardest cases.
Speaking as the parent of a toddler here, educational materials for parents imply a much larger effect. There is also so much focus on coaching parents on child-directed speech, which the paper notes in passing isn’t really evidence based.
Input quantity (no. word tokens, total utterances) and quality (word types, MLU) explained between 4% and 7% of the variance in children's language development. So a lot less than you might think but still a not insignificant amount 2/
January 25, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Speaking as the parent of a toddler here, educational materials for parents imply a much larger effect. There is also so much focus on coaching parents on child-directed speech, which the paper notes in passing isn’t really evidence based.
This is very cool
It would seem that even the basic color words in humans have no corresponding natural kinds in the visual system.
The origin of color categories | PNAS
To what extent does concept formation require language? Here, we exploit color to
address this question and ask whether macaque monkeys have color ...
www.pnas.org
January 25, 2025 at 2:56 PM
This is very cool
Reposted by Liza
Such an important study. @florinaerbeli.bsky.social is doing phenomenal research.
The NRP Report (2000) found that independent silent reading may not be the most efficient use of instructional time.
In our study, we replicated the finding. We found that independent reading didn't contribute meaningfully to improved reading outcomes.
🔗 shorturl.at/ZeBJz
🔗 shorturl.at/BZBpt
In our study, we replicated the finding. We found that independent reading didn't contribute meaningfully to improved reading outcomes.
🔗 shorturl.at/ZeBJz
🔗 shorturl.at/BZBpt
Examining the Effects of Silent Independent Reading on Reading Outcomes: A Narrative Synthesis Review from 2000 to 2020
Encouraging children to read extensively has been a widely recommended approach to developing reading. The National Reading Panel published a review study reporting inconclusive findings regarding ...
www.tandfonline.com
December 19, 2024 at 2:48 PM
Such an important study. @florinaerbeli.bsky.social is doing phenomenal research.
Here is a newish paper about a full class reading intervention in upper elementary, with Sounds Write. Not sure what to make of the strong relative performance on standardized tests vs modest gains on normed assessments. But it looks pretty good: www.cmjpublishers.com/wp-content/u...
www.cmjpublishers.com
December 24, 2024 at 10:00 PM
Here is a newish paper about a full class reading intervention in upper elementary, with Sounds Write. Not sure what to make of the strong relative performance on standardized tests vs modest gains on normed assessments. But it looks pretty good: www.cmjpublishers.com/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Liza
“A one-time meeting and a box of materials won’t cut it. [Teachers] need learning opportunities, resources and in-class coaching. And they should not have to spend their own time and money seeking out training.”
@j-metsala.bsky.social
macleans.ca/the-year-ahe...
@j-metsala.bsky.social
macleans.ca/the-year-ahe...
How Structured Literacy Will Upend Canadian Education - Macleans.ca
Canadian students have struggled to read and write. That stops this year.
macleans.ca
December 7, 2024 at 1:44 PM
“A one-time meeting and a box of materials won’t cut it. [Teachers] need learning opportunities, resources and in-class coaching. And they should not have to spend their own time and money seeking out training.”
@j-metsala.bsky.social
macleans.ca/the-year-ahe...
@j-metsala.bsky.social
macleans.ca/the-year-ahe...
Did you know that Julia Donaldson - of The Gruffalo, etc - wrote a series of delightful decodeable readers? They are my favourites. This one is
mostly consonant digraphs: www.amazon.ca/Read-Oxford-...
mostly consonant digraphs: www.amazon.ca/Read-Oxford-...
Read with Oxford: Stage 2 Julia Donaldson's Songbirds: Ron Rabbit's Egg and Other Stories
Read with Oxford: Stage 2 Julia Donaldson's Songbirds: Ron Rabbit's Egg and Other Stories: Donaldson, Julia, Kirtley, Clare, Docherty, Thomas, Dreidemy, Joelle, Liddiment, Carol, Hammond, Andy, Allen, Jonathan, Mould, Chris, Axworthy, Anni: 9780192764782: Books - Amazon.ca
www.amazon.ca
December 4, 2024 at 9:44 PM
Did you know that Julia Donaldson - of The Gruffalo, etc - wrote a series of delightful decodeable readers? They are my favourites. This one is
mostly consonant digraphs: www.amazon.ca/Read-Oxford-...
mostly consonant digraphs: www.amazon.ca/Read-Oxford-...
So are we going to apply this standard to Orton Gillingham too? Because the evidence there is not great, as I understand it.
A class-action lawsuit filed today claims that the educational publishing company Heinemann falsely advertised its products as “research-backed” and “data-based.” www.apmreports.org/story/2024/1...
Lawsuit calls reading curriculum 'deceptive' and 'defective'
A class-action lawsuit filed in Massachusetts claims that the educational publishing company Heinemann falsely advertised its products as “research-backed” and “data-based.”
www.apmreports.org
December 4, 2024 at 8:03 PM
So are we going to apply this standard to Orton Gillingham too? Because the evidence there is not great, as I understand it.
Reposted by Liza
A class-action lawsuit filed today claims that the educational publishing company Heinemann falsely advertised its products as “research-backed” and “data-based.” www.apmreports.org/story/2024/1...
Lawsuit calls reading curriculum 'deceptive' and 'defective'
A class-action lawsuit filed in Massachusetts claims that the educational publishing company Heinemann falsely advertised its products as “research-backed” and “data-based.”
www.apmreports.org
December 4, 2024 at 6:46 PM
A class-action lawsuit filed today claims that the educational publishing company Heinemann falsely advertised its products as “research-backed” and “data-based.” www.apmreports.org/story/2024/1...
I’m still thinking about this defense of balanced literacy from one of North America’s biggest school boards.
The Toronto District School Board is the largest in Canada, and one of the largest in North America, with ~238,000 students. They recently published a new literacy strategy. Let's read it together. You can follow along here: www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/lite...
www.tdsb.on.ca
November 26, 2024 at 1:46 PM
I’m still thinking about this defense of balanced literacy from one of North America’s biggest school boards.
Wishing had made this its own thread, so bumping it up here. It doesn’t matter how great your program is if teachers can’t get through it in the time available.
Teaching phonics to “mastery”, such that the planned scope and sequence is infeasible, and students finish first grade without even learning consonant digraphs, let alone vowel teams. While continuing to send home levelled readers, because of course.
November 25, 2024 at 7:14 PM
Wishing had made this its own thread, so bumping it up here. It doesn’t matter how great your program is if teachers can’t get through it in the time available.
Reposted by Liza
I’ve been collecting examples of how increased awareness of SOR has led to surface/incomplete understandings that get translated into sub-optimal (though well-intended) instructional practice. Do you have any examples to share?
November 25, 2024 at 2:17 PM
I’ve been collecting examples of how increased awareness of SOR has led to surface/incomplete understandings that get translated into sub-optimal (though well-intended) instructional practice. Do you have any examples to share?
Hmm: “As it has developed so far, the ‘science of reading’ approach […] too has been developed by educators with little background in cognitive science and marketed to other educators with even less.” seidenbergreading.net/2024/11/21/c...
November 23, 2024 at 3:26 AM
Hmm: “As it has developed so far, the ‘science of reading’ approach […] too has been developed by educators with little background in cognitive science and marketed to other educators with even less.” seidenbergreading.net/2024/11/21/c...
Is there a best practice for assessing speech in bilingual children when it's not clear which language is stronger? My quick google suggests ideally they would be assessed in both languages. I am curious about some articulation differences, phonemic awareness and receptive vocabulary.
November 22, 2024 at 7:12 PM
Is there a best practice for assessing speech in bilingual children when it's not clear which language is stronger? My quick google suggests ideally they would be assessed in both languages. I am curious about some articulation differences, phonemic awareness and receptive vocabulary.
I use a linguistic literacy program, and in general we talk about sound spellings and not silent letters. I'm not aware of any research on this pretty fine distinction but here's one interesting case study. 1/
November 22, 2024 at 1:48 AM
I use a linguistic literacy program, and in general we talk about sound spellings and not silent letters. I'm not aware of any research on this pretty fine distinction but here's one interesting case study. 1/
Another parent once told me in a hushed tone that teaching her own child with 100 Easy Lessons “kind of fixed my own reading.”
This one hit hard. Please read. We need to do better. ❤️ #EduSky
Does it Really Matter How Kids Are Taught, If They Eventually Learn How to Read?
I loved my first grade teacher, but she didn’t teach me how to read. The Start of a Problem Mrs. B earned her teaching credential during the height of Whole-Language. She read aloud to us every day…
righttoreadproject.com
November 21, 2024 at 1:59 AM
Another parent once told me in a hushed tone that teaching her own child with 100 Easy Lessons “kind of fixed my own reading.”
Reposted by Liza
So how is this going for TDSB students? Well on page 20, we see that 50% of first grade students were at grade level last year. There is no assessment mentioned, but I gather they are using DRA.
November 20, 2024 at 2:20 AM
So how is this going for TDSB students? Well on page 20, we see that 50% of first grade students were at grade level last year. There is no assessment mentioned, but I gather they are using DRA.
Reposted by Liza
The Toronto District School Board is the largest in Canada, and one of the largest in North America, with ~238,000 students. They recently published a new literacy strategy. Let's read it together. You can follow along here: www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/lite...
www.tdsb.on.ca
November 20, 2024 at 1:58 AM
The Toronto District School Board is the largest in Canada, and one of the largest in North America, with ~238,000 students. They recently published a new literacy strategy. Let's read it together. You can follow along here: www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/lite...
The Toronto District School Board is the largest in Canada, and one of the largest in North America, with ~238,000 students. They recently published a new literacy strategy. Let's read it together. You can follow along here: www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/lite...
www.tdsb.on.ca
November 20, 2024 at 1:58 AM
The Toronto District School Board is the largest in Canada, and one of the largest in North America, with ~238,000 students. They recently published a new literacy strategy. Let's read it together. You can follow along here: www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/lite...
This puzzles me. A skilled, fluent reader cannot stop themselves from reading a word they have mapped when their eyes fall on it. Just try to look at any word in this sentence without reading it. If motivation is required to decode, doesn't that suggest the student still needs support?
Do you differentiate between genuine inability and low motivation?
Read more in our blog ‘15 Tests for secondary school reading interventions’ wp.me/p4hKgx-6z (5 min read).
#EduTwitter
Read more in our blog ‘15 Tests for secondary school reading interventions’ wp.me/p4hKgx-6z (5 min read).
#EduTwitter
November 19, 2024 at 7:07 PM
This puzzles me. A skilled, fluent reader cannot stop themselves from reading a word they have mapped when their eyes fall on it. Just try to look at any word in this sentence without reading it. If motivation is required to decode, doesn't that suggest the student still needs support?
This is a great episode - I leap at any opportunity to learn from @trttricia.bsky.social. Too much to summarize here, but I appreciate her commitment to developing tools that non-experts can use. podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/e...
November 17, 2024 at 6:40 PM
This is a great episode - I leap at any opportunity to learn from @trttricia.bsky.social. Too much to summarize here, but I appreciate her commitment to developing tools that non-experts can use. podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/e...
Reposted by Liza
"Teaching three-cueing is a bad idea. I agree with that. Students shouldn’t be taught to use pictures, meaning, context, or syntax to guess at the words.
They should be taught to decode words.
But that doesn’t mean banning three-cueing is sensible."
They should be taught to decode words.
But that doesn’t mean banning three-cueing is sensible."
November 16, 2024 at 3:39 PM
"Teaching three-cueing is a bad idea. I agree with that. Students shouldn’t be taught to use pictures, meaning, context, or syntax to guess at the words.
They should be taught to decode words.
But that doesn’t mean banning three-cueing is sensible."
They should be taught to decode words.
But that doesn’t mean banning three-cueing is sensible."
Reposted by Liza
**New paper** in Nature Human Behaviour shows that pupils in low- and middle-income countries #LMICs are failing to acquire the most basic skills needed for reading comprehension. Evidence-aligned #phonics instruction needed to meet global literacy goals #SDGs www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Inadequate foundational decoding skills constrain global literacy goals for pupils in low- and middle-income countries - Nature Human Behaviour
Crawford et al. report data from over half a million pupils from 48 low- and middle-income countries, showing that pupils across the first three instructional years are failing to acquire the most bas...
www.nature.com
November 14, 2024 at 4:22 PM
**New paper** in Nature Human Behaviour shows that pupils in low- and middle-income countries #LMICs are failing to acquire the most basic skills needed for reading comprehension. Evidence-aligned #phonics instruction needed to meet global literacy goals #SDGs www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A new social network is a good excuse to post one of my favourite videos of real life reading instruction, from Ann Sullivan of Phonics for SEN. Imagine if all students with complex needs had access to this kind of instruction: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mB2...
How do we teach pupils with complex needs to segment?
YouTube video by Ann Sullivan
www.youtube.com
November 16, 2024 at 7:13 PM
A new social network is a good excuse to post one of my favourite videos of real life reading instruction, from Ann Sullivan of Phonics for SEN. Imagine if all students with complex needs had access to this kind of instruction: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mB2...