Science of Reading: The Podcast

• Everything is literacy, with Susan Lambert, Ed.D.

  In this crossover episode Susan Lambert joins host Ana Torres and Classroom Insider Eric Cross from sister podcast, Beyond My Years. Together, the trio dive into the idea that all educators contribute to—and thus must invest in—student literacy development, regardless of the content they teach. Throughout the conversation, they discuss how all teachers are literacy teachers, offer four simple tips for developing academic language in any classroom, and explore why Susan still doesn't feel like a "seasoned educator" despite over 30 years in education. Finally, Ana and Eric discuss what they learned and Eric shares his top three takeaways from Susan.Show notes:Subscribe to Beyond My Years https://at.amplify.com/bmyAccess free, high-quality resources at our brand new, companion professional learning page: http://amplify.com/science-of-reading/professional-learning  Connect with:Susan Lambert: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-lambert-edd-b1512761/Ana Torres: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anayansi-ana-torres-m-ed-26a10654/Eric Cross: https://www.ericcross.org/ Resources:Science of Reading: A New Teacher’s GuideScarborough’s Reading RopeThe Knowledge Gap by Natalie WexlerJoin our community Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/scienceofreadingFollow us on Instagram @amplify.education Quotes: “Reading and writing and understanding language is not just an English language arts teacher's responsibility. It's the responsibility of every educator to communicate their discipline and the words and the concepts from their discipline to their students.” —Susan Lambert“[The Science of Reading movement] is not being led by one person or another person. …  I'm part of a greater community, and to know that I play a certain role or part in that community actually gives me a lot of inspiration on days when it's really, really hard.” —Susan Lambert“Any teacher in a classroom, no matter what content area they teach, is teaching something about language.” —Susan Lambert“The more that we can sharpen our tools and our skillset to be those teachers of literacy, the faster we're going to see improvements in learning in our classrooms. They're not two separate things.” —Eric Cross

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• Translating research into action, with Amie Burkholder

  In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, literacy coach (and podcast host in her own right) Amie Burkholder joins us to discuss her new book, Literacy Unlocked: How to Implement the Science of Reading With Young Learners. Amie talks through the origins of the book, how she structured it to be really actionable for educators, and what she hopes educators will take away from it. Amie and Susan also discuss some of the biggest recent changes to the Science of Reading movement, the areas Amie most often sees educators struggle when making the switch to research-based literacy instruction, and some tips educators can implement today—including a walkthrough of a classroom activity targeting phonemic awareness. Show notes:Access free, high-quality resources at our brand new, companion professional learning page: http://amplify.com/science-of-reading/professional-learning  Connect with Amie:Instagram: @literacy.edventures Listen to Amie’s podcast: Route2ReadingResources:Book: Literacy Unlocked: How to Implement the Science of Reading With Young LearnersDownload the Science of Reading: A New Teacher's Guide today!amplify.com/sorguide Join our community Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/scienceofreadingConnect with Susan Lambert: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-lambert-edd-b1512761/ Quotes: “Look to those that you trust to guide you.” —Amie Burkholder “If you try to change everything you're doing, you're not going to do anything well. Pick one area of your literacy block you’re really gonna nail. Once you nail that—add another one.” —Amie Burkholder“I want [the book] to follow the research, but I want it to be simple enough for teachers to execute, [and] also engaging enough for kids to want to do it.” —Amie Burkholder Episode timestamps*02:00 Introduction: Who is Amie Burkholder?07:00 Literacy Unlocked: How to Implement the Science of Reading with Young Learners11:00 Book Structure12:00 Phonemic awareness classroom activity walkthrough16:00 Learning while writing the book17:00 Strategy for getting the most out of conferences18:00 Favorite conferences19:00 Biggest changes to the science of reading movement20:00 Recommendation for people diving into the research for the first time 22:00 Implementation: Biggest struggle for teaching making the shift24:00 Ideal takeaway from the book25:00 Closing thoughts*Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

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• Leveled reading, leveled lives, with Tim Shanahan, Ph.D.

  In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, top literacy scholar Tim Shanahan, Ph.D., returns to discuss his new book, Leveled Reading, Leveled Lives: How Students’ Reading Achievement Has Been Held Back and What We Can Do About It. During his conversation with Susan Lambert, he outlines what existing research says about leveled reading—and why it’s not effective. He also shares how the misuse of theory can lead to ineffectual conclusions, makes a case for the efficacy of more explicit instruction, and provides a few simple tweaks teachers can make to classroom instruction that can make a big difference for their students. Show notes:Access free, high-quality resources at our brand new companion professional learning page. Resources:Book: Leveled Reading, Leveled Lives: How Students’ Reading Achievement Has Been Held Back and What We Can Do About ItJoin our community Facebook group.Connect with Susan Lambert.Quotes: “This notion of trying to match kids to books and get everybody to their right level is, at the very least, wasteful. It's not benefiting kids.” —Tim Shanahan, Ph.D.“We're spending an awful lot of time doing a lot of work that is not only not paying off, but it's probably holding a lot of kids back.” —Tim Shanahan, Ph.D.“Maybe we should be having kids read some of these texts more than once. Maybe we should be doing some of our fluency work, not after we did the comprehension work, but ahead of time.” —Tim Shanahan, Ph.D.Episode timestamps*02:00 Introduction: Who is Tim Shanahan?03:00 Most proud of as a researcher05:00 Most proud of in education policy work06:00 First book: Leveled Reading, Leveled Lives07:00 Motivation to write: Addressing instructional levels14:00 Relevance of misuse of theory17:00 Leveled instruction isn’t effective 21:00 Self-reflections in the writing process22:00 Parallels to verbal learning24:00 What can teachers do?26:00 Fluency and reading things twice32:00 Grade level teaching opens opportunities33:00 The future of literacy development39:00 What is happening in American schools?*Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

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• Science of Reading Essentials: Comprehension

  In this special Essentials episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert pulls from past episodes to distill reading comprehension insights from experts Hugh Catts, Ph.D.; Sharon Vaughn, Ph.D.; and Reid Smith, Ph.D. Listeners will walk away from this episode with a foundational introduction to the complexities of reading comprehension, and gain an understanding of topics such as reframing comprehension as an outcome rather than a skill, choosing the right texts and asking the right questions, cultivating long term memory and knowledge recall, and understanding the real purpose of reading. Show notes: Access the listening guide—and other free, high-quality resources—at our brand new professional learning page: http://amplify.com/science-of-reading/professional-learning Join our community Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/scienceofreadingQuotes:“This Essentials episode does not answer everything about comprehension. All we're doing here is building a foundation, understanding that comprehension isn't a skill, it's complex.” —Susan Lambert“ For the most part, if we're paying attention, if we can read words efficiently and know what they mean and have background knowledge, it yields comprehension.” —Sharon Vaughn“ Some people say that the purpose of reading is comprehension. It's not the purpose of reading. The purpose of reading is whatever you're comprehending for.” —Hugh Catts “[There’s] a strong literature base that tells us that one of the differences between poor readers and strong readers is their ability to notice when there are inconsistencies in the text, and have strategies that they can employ to resolve those inconsistencies.” —Reid SmithEpisode Timestamps*01:00 What are “Science of Reading: Essentials” episodes02:00 Introduction to comprehension05:00 Defining comprehension07:00 Reading comprehension as an outcome09:00 The purpose of reading with Hugh Catts11:00 Comprehension vs foundational reading skills17:00 The importance of text and asking the right questions with Sharon Vaughn20:00 Discussion on leveled reading26:00 Background knowledge with Reid Smith28:00 Long term memory and knowledge recall31:00 Final thoughts, tips, & encouragement34:00 Key takeaways from Susan36:00 Season 10 preview39:00 Coming up next: Tim Shanahan*Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

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• Summer ‘25 Rewind: The missing link in reading comprehension, with Anne Lucas

  In this rewind episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, we revisit a Season 1 conversation between host Susan Lambert and Anne Lucas, former curriculum director and current Associate Vice President of Product, Literacy Suite Initiatives & Supplementals at Amplify  on the complexities of reading comprehension.Together they dive into the complex nature of comprehension and why it’s so difficult to teach. Show notes:Access free, high-quality resources at our brand new, companion professional learning page: http://amplify.com/science-of-reading/professional-learning  Resources:Read: Understanding and Teaching Reading Comprehension by Jane OakhillRead: The missing link in comprehension white paperListen: Science of Reading Essentials: WritingJoin our community Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/scienceofreadingConnect with Susan Lambert: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-lambert-edd-b1512761/Find our more information – and register – for our Science of Reading Summer Learning Series: https://amplify.com/sorsummerlearning Quotes:“We often think about comprehension as a product, or something that happens after kids read, but … the ability for a student to build a model or a network of ideas or a picture in their mind happens while they're reading.” —Anne Lucas“You know, you don't have to completely change your curriculum; you don't have to completely change the way you're teaching.” —Anne Lucas“Comprehension is making sense and meaning while you read, so you have the ability to discuss, analyze, and form an opinion about something after you read it.” —Anne LucasEpisode timestamps*03:00 Introduction: Who is Anne Lucas?07:00 Defining comprehension09:00 The missing link in comprehension10:00 Comprehension micro skills vs decoding14:00 End goal vs. process16:00 Current research18:00 Significance of “small” words20:00 Targeting micro skills in the classroom22:00 Comprehension skills vs strategies27:00 Teacher response to learning about micro skills29:00 Background knowledge31:00 Final takeaways on comprehension*Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

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