Bruce Howlett - Sparking the Reading Shift
@reading-shift.bsky.social
Lessons that integrates instruction that combines phonemes & graphemes with the meaningful aspects of language - morphemes, word meaning and sentence construction from Day 1.
Sparking the Fluency Shift, too. ReadingShift.com
Sparking the Fluency Shift, too. ReadingShift.com
Pinned
The #1 goal of literacy is to read & write sentences. Sentences assign meaning to words & strongly predict & determine texts comprehension. Instead of starting with letters and sounds start with a sentence, break it into phrases, morphemes & graphemes then manipulate the parts. More ReadingShift.com
To comply with IDA’s current definition of Structured Literacy, "A School Year Rich in Words" will interest you. It shows how to “systematic integration” of phonology, morphology, semantics, and syntax orthography.
open.spotify.com/episode/1zZ9...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
open.spotify.com/episode/1zZ9...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
A School Year Rich in Words - Ann Whiting & Lyn Anderson
open.spotify.com
October 8, 2025 at 9:11 PM
To comply with IDA’s current definition of Structured Literacy, "A School Year Rich in Words" will interest you. It shows how to “systematic integration” of phonology, morphology, semantics, and syntax orthography.
open.spotify.com/episode/1zZ9...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
open.spotify.com/episode/1zZ9...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
Also state mandates have never led to long term improvement in reading comprehension scores.
State takeovers of districts *not* associated with improved student performance in reading or math. Especially striking as you'd at least expect regression to the mean effects. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
September 15, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Also state mandates have never led to long term improvement in reading comprehension scores.
Reposted by Bruce Howlett - Sparking the Reading Shift
Varying the conditions of learning, makes that learning more effective. Here ⬇️ is a description of how it works from an experiment by Kerr & Booth (1978).
How can you get pupils to think harder about their learning?
We provide bespoke professional learning for schools www.impact.wales
How can you get pupils to think harder about their learning?
We provide bespoke professional learning for schools www.impact.wales
August 31, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Varying the conditions of learning, makes that learning more effective. Here ⬇️ is a description of how it works from an experiment by Kerr & Booth (1978).
How can you get pupils to think harder about their learning?
We provide bespoke professional learning for schools www.impact.wales
How can you get pupils to think harder about their learning?
We provide bespoke professional learning for schools www.impact.wales
Reposted by Bruce Howlett - Sparking the Reading Shift
Oh dear indeed. Unfortunately, ‘getting kids in and behaving’ is exactly what can burn them out - esp autistic & ADHD children & teens, whose experience of school attendance can be much harsher & more draining than for their neurotypical peers, as new research shows.
www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/ju...
www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/ju...
August 31, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Oh dear indeed. Unfortunately, ‘getting kids in and behaving’ is exactly what can burn them out - esp autistic & ADHD children & teens, whose experience of school attendance can be much harsher & more draining than for their neurotypical peers, as new research shows.
www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/ju...
www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/ju...
Tonight’s The Reading League Talk by Sue Hegland, author of Beneath the Surface of Words, who will be introduced by Linnea Ehri, expands on a statement made by Dr. Ehri on this For the Love of Literacy podcast. This talk will explain the role that written morphemes, morphographs.
August 20, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Tonight’s The Reading League Talk by Sue Hegland, author of Beneath the Surface of Words, who will be introduced by Linnea Ehri, expands on a statement made by Dr. Ehri on this For the Love of Literacy podcast. This talk will explain the role that written morphemes, morphographs.
Reposted by Bruce Howlett - Sparking the Reading Shift
"Current results suggest that children with #DLD should successfully retrieve word forms and meanings across multiple sessions to support post-training retention."
pubs.asha.org/doi/abs/10.1...
pubs.asha.org/doi/abs/10.1...
The Number of Sessions Children With Developmental Language Disorder Retrieve Words Relates Positively to Retrieval After Extended Post-Training Delays
Purpose: For adults and children with typical development, the number of training
sessions a target item is successfully retrieved relates positi...
pubs.asha.org
August 9, 2025 at 10:57 PM
"Current results suggest that children with #DLD should successfully retrieve word forms and meanings across multiple sessions to support post-training retention."
pubs.asha.org/doi/abs/10.1...
pubs.asha.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by Bruce Howlett - Sparking the Reading Shift
"Our results suggest that word reading and #spelling are one and the same, almost, but that spoken vocabulary knowledge is more closely related to #reading than to spelling."
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
On the relationship between word reading ability and spelling ability - Reading and Writing
The goal of the present study was to test theories about the extent to which individual differences in word reading align with those in spelling and the extent to which other cognitive and linguistic ...
link.springer.com
July 6, 2025 at 9:24 PM
"Our results suggest that word reading and #spelling are one and the same, almost, but that spoken vocabulary knowledge is more closely related to #reading than to spelling."
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Bruce Howlett - Sparking the Reading Shift
Week 8 of #SummerSkillSaturdays: ✍️Writing Wonders! Boost handwriting with top resources from Graham, Van Cleave, Datchuk & more! PLUS free tools (LIFTER & CLIFTER)!
🖋️ bit.ly/Kastner-SSS-...
📝 bit.ly/Kastner-SSS-...
#WritingMatters
🖋️ bit.ly/Kastner-SSS-...
📝 bit.ly/Kastner-SSS-...
#WritingMatters
July 13, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Week 8 of #SummerSkillSaturdays: ✍️Writing Wonders! Boost handwriting with top resources from Graham, Van Cleave, Datchuk & more! PLUS free tools (LIFTER & CLIFTER)!
🖋️ bit.ly/Kastner-SSS-...
📝 bit.ly/Kastner-SSS-...
#WritingMatters
🖋️ bit.ly/Kastner-SSS-...
📝 bit.ly/Kastner-SSS-...
#WritingMatters
Just like the 5 billion spent on Reading First and "scientifically based reading instruction", millions on LETRS and Science of Reading. Let's look at the upper strands of Scarborough's Rope and put oral language and reasoning up front.
New data suggests that Race to the Top policies had small positive effects on student achievement, as measured by NAEP reading & math scores. I called that one wrong, I was sure they would have no impact. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3...
July 7, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Just like the 5 billion spent on Reading First and "scientifically based reading instruction", millions on LETRS and Science of Reading. Let's look at the upper strands of Scarborough's Rope and put oral language and reasoning up front.
Phonology is a lower order language skill. Morphemes link to word meaning, are tied tightly to vocabulary growth and grapheme- morpheme relationships in English are much stronger than phoneme-grapheme associations..
"we provide additional evidence that phonological mastery of difficult L2 contrasts is not a monolithic, unidimensional trait that can be solely captured by sound-level identification/discrimination tasks by themselves."
You can hear the sounds, but can you distinguish the words? 🤔
Here's the postprint version of our new, soon-to-be SSLA paper!
osf.io/6zbgt
Celia Gorba, Pilar Prieto and I revisit the tricky link between L2 sound & word recognition—with a fresh look at methods
Here's the postprint version of our new, soon-to-be SSLA paper!
osf.io/6zbgt
Celia Gorba, Pilar Prieto and I revisit the tricky link between L2 sound & word recognition—with a fresh look at methods
July 4, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Phonology is a lower order language skill. Morphemes link to word meaning, are tied tightly to vocabulary growth and grapheme- morpheme relationships in English are much stronger than phoneme-grapheme associations..
Reposted by Bruce Howlett - Sparking the Reading Shift
I virtually attended Marie Foley’s Making Sense Of Words With Morphology micro workshop, and I would highly recommend it to anybody looking to “discover how visual narrative and Structured Word Inquiry can help students make sense of the writing system.” www.mariefoleyreading.com/workshops
May 25, 2025 at 5:18 PM
I virtually attended Marie Foley’s Making Sense Of Words With Morphology micro workshop, and I would highly recommend it to anybody looking to “discover how visual narrative and Structured Word Inquiry can help students make sense of the writing system.” www.mariefoleyreading.com/workshops
Reposted by Bruce Howlett - Sparking the Reading Shift
Cuts to the Institute of Education Sciences = cuts to research, data & tools that help kids—especially struggling readers & students w/ disabilities. Tell Congress: Protect IES funding. #StandUpForReadingResearch
Call your RI Congressional Reps: opengov.sos.ri.gov/GOVDirectory...
Call your RI Congressional Reps: opengov.sos.ri.gov/GOVDirectory...
April 7, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Cuts to the Institute of Education Sciences = cuts to research, data & tools that help kids—especially struggling readers & students w/ disabilities. Tell Congress: Protect IES funding. #StandUpForReadingResearch
Call your RI Congressional Reps: opengov.sos.ri.gov/GOVDirectory...
Call your RI Congressional Reps: opengov.sos.ri.gov/GOVDirectory...
Reposted by Bruce Howlett - Sparking the Reading Shift
Mark my words and please understand: They erase your history so that they can erase your rights.
April 5, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Mark my words and please understand: They erase your history so that they can erase your rights.
With falling NAEP scores & research showing that sentence writing is essential to reading growth, let's give students a change to perform at a higher level - even if they are struggling with decoding. Yes, writing success can motivate struggling readers!
more linguistic challenges - readingshift.com
more linguistic challenges - readingshift.com
April 2, 2025 at 11:07 PM
With falling NAEP scores & research showing that sentence writing is essential to reading growth, let's give students a change to perform at a higher level - even if they are struggling with decoding. Yes, writing success can motivate struggling readers!
more linguistic challenges - readingshift.com
more linguistic challenges - readingshift.com
You are using is current research if it conforms to:
1. Share's universal combining principle - symbols + phonemes = morphemes to make words
2. Duke and Cartwright's Active View- upgrades "The Rope"
3. Wolf's POSSuM in each lesson - phonemes, graphemes, morphemes, word meaning, sentence writing
1. Share's universal combining principle - symbols + phonemes = morphemes to make words
2. Duke and Cartwright's Active View- upgrades "The Rope"
3. Wolf's POSSuM in each lesson - phonemes, graphemes, morphemes, word meaning, sentence writing
April 1, 2025 at 4:53 PM
You are using is current research if it conforms to:
1. Share's universal combining principle - symbols + phonemes = morphemes to make words
2. Duke and Cartwright's Active View- upgrades "The Rope"
3. Wolf's POSSuM in each lesson - phonemes, graphemes, morphemes, word meaning, sentence writing
1. Share's universal combining principle - symbols + phonemes = morphemes to make words
2. Duke and Cartwright's Active View- upgrades "The Rope"
3. Wolf's POSSuM in each lesson - phonemes, graphemes, morphemes, word meaning, sentence writing
Integrated language-literacy builds skills using the universal combining principle - symbols & sounds builds meaningful morphemes - the core of words. Words combined into phrases & sentences. The first & every lesson in Sparking the Reading Shift raises expectations & motivation. ReadingShift.com
March 30, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Integrated language-literacy builds skills using the universal combining principle - symbols & sounds builds meaningful morphemes - the core of words. Words combined into phrases & sentences. The first & every lesson in Sparking the Reading Shift raises expectations & motivation. ReadingShift.com
Reposted by Bruce Howlett - Sparking the Reading Shift
Children are under a lot of stress. This shouldn't include pressure to read before they're developmentally ready. Instead, please read engaging picture books together, especially the funny ones, and back off the academic expectations. nancyebailey.com/2023/03/13/h...
How Stressing Preschoolers and Kindergarteners Could Lead to Mental Health Problems - Nancy Bailey's Education Website
There has been a pushdown of academic expectations for years, and Americans should be asking how much stress this causes all students, especially our youngest learners. If a child struggles in prescho...
nancyebailey.com
March 1, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Children are under a lot of stress. This shouldn't include pressure to read before they're developmentally ready. Instead, please read engaging picture books together, especially the funny ones, and back off the academic expectations. nancyebailey.com/2023/03/13/h...
Interested in morphology and its powerful influence on decoding, spelling and vocabulary development? Check out the work of Peter Bowers and Structured Word Inquiry. I attended his workshop last summer and it simplified and clarified my approach to literacy. drive.google.com/file/d/1Ga9U...
5-session SWI Workshop Eduspark starting March 2025.pdf
drive.google.com
March 1, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Interested in morphology and its powerful influence on decoding, spelling and vocabulary development? Check out the work of Peter Bowers and Structured Word Inquiry. I attended his workshop last summer and it simplified and clarified my approach to literacy. drive.google.com/file/d/1Ga9U...
Reposted by Bruce Howlett - Sparking the Reading Shift
How often does the rule 'i before e' actually apply?
In our database of 30k+ words, 'i before e' occurs 902 times compared to 'e before i', which occurs 226 times.
However, if you look at weighted word frequencies (how often a word actually occurs in English), it's a more interesting story.
In our database of 30k+ words, 'i before e' occurs 902 times compared to 'e before i', which occurs 226 times.
However, if you look at weighted word frequencies (how often a word actually occurs in English), it's a more interesting story.
February 27, 2025 at 11:21 PM
How often does the rule 'i before e' actually apply?
In our database of 30k+ words, 'i before e' occurs 902 times compared to 'e before i', which occurs 226 times.
However, if you look at weighted word frequencies (how often a word actually occurs in English), it's a more interesting story.
In our database of 30k+ words, 'i before e' occurs 902 times compared to 'e before i', which occurs 226 times.
However, if you look at weighted word frequencies (how often a word actually occurs in English), it's a more interesting story.
Make noticeable improvements in reading, spelling and sentence writing abilities tomorrow. Read the new Sparking the Reading Shift newsletter. It addresses the two biggest limitations of most reading instruction - low expectations and limited linguistic challenges. readingshift.com/so/0dPKPQWLo...
Reading Sentences with Complex Words on Day One Free Upgrades, Sample Lessons and Stories Last Chance for Free Upgrade – We continue to receive lots of requests for upgrades to the latest version of S...
Sparking the Reading Shift is designed to overcome two limitations that most foundational reading programs suffer from – low expectations and limited linguistic challenges. Timothy Shanahan recently w...
readingshift.com
February 26, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Make noticeable improvements in reading, spelling and sentence writing abilities tomorrow. Read the new Sparking the Reading Shift newsletter. It addresses the two biggest limitations of most reading instruction - low expectations and limited linguistic challenges. readingshift.com/so/0dPKPQWLo...
The #1 goal of literacy is to read & write sentences. Sentences assign meaning to words & strongly predict & determine texts comprehension. Instead of starting with letters and sounds start with a sentence, break it into phrases, morphemes & graphemes then manipulate the parts. More ReadingShift.com
February 18, 2025 at 1:14 PM
The #1 goal of literacy is to read & write sentences. Sentences assign meaning to words & strongly predict & determine texts comprehension. Instead of starting with letters and sounds start with a sentence, break it into phrases, morphemes & graphemes then manipulate the parts. More ReadingShift.com
The Universal "Combining" Principle that all kids on the planet used to learn to read - Phonemes = morphemes in speech.
Graphemes = morphemes in written words. All words are combinations of morphemes. Words combine into phrases & sentences - the key to meaning
From Day 1 go from sounds to sentences
Graphemes = morphemes in written words. All words are combinations of morphemes. Words combine into phrases & sentences - the key to meaning
From Day 1 go from sounds to sentences
February 17, 2025 at 8:58 PM
The Universal "Combining" Principle that all kids on the planet used to learn to read - Phonemes = morphemes in speech.
Graphemes = morphemes in written words. All words are combinations of morphemes. Words combine into phrases & sentences - the key to meaning
From Day 1 go from sounds to sentences
Graphemes = morphemes in written words. All words are combinations of morphemes. Words combine into phrases & sentences - the key to meaning
From Day 1 go from sounds to sentences
End siloed instruction, from phonics to leveled books. Integrate the four major components of speech - phonemes (sounds), with meaningful morphemes, words (semantics) and sentences (syntax) with the MANY ways they are represented in print. Nell Duke says to it simultaneously, or use Wolf's POSSuM.
January 29, 2025 at 7:23 PM
End siloed instruction, from phonics to leveled books. Integrate the four major components of speech - phonemes (sounds), with meaningful morphemes, words (semantics) and sentences (syntax) with the MANY ways they are represented in print. Nell Duke says to it simultaneously, or use Wolf's POSSuM.
Have you stuck to literacy practices for years? Maybe it's a habit rather than a simpler and innovative practice based on current research.
Why teaching practice is so hard to change. It's all about habit formation!
We create sketchnotes that summarise key research for teachers and leaders. We also provide professional learning for teachers and schools. Contact us to find out how we can support you enquiries@impact.wales
We create sketchnotes that summarise key research for teachers and leaders. We also provide professional learning for teachers and schools. Contact us to find out how we can support you enquiries@impact.wales
January 9, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Have you stuck to literacy practices for years? Maybe it's a habit rather than a simpler and innovative practice based on current research.
Reposted by Bruce Howlett - Sparking the Reading Shift
MORPHOLOGY MONDAY: NOV = NEW !
Happy New Year! For this first MM of the New Year, I’ve selected the word root NOV which means NEW.
If word roots interests you as an approach to vocabulary instruction, I’d like to recommend Building Vocabulary from Word Roots (K-12).
Happy New Year! For this first MM of the New Year, I’ve selected the word root NOV which means NEW.
If word roots interests you as an approach to vocabulary instruction, I’d like to recommend Building Vocabulary from Word Roots (K-12).
January 5, 2025 at 7:11 PM
MORPHOLOGY MONDAY: NOV = NEW !
Happy New Year! For this first MM of the New Year, I’ve selected the word root NOV which means NEW.
If word roots interests you as an approach to vocabulary instruction, I’d like to recommend Building Vocabulary from Word Roots (K-12).
Happy New Year! For this first MM of the New Year, I’ve selected the word root NOV which means NEW.
If word roots interests you as an approach to vocabulary instruction, I’d like to recommend Building Vocabulary from Word Roots (K-12).