Episode 218 is chock-full of super practical ways to implement academic talk in your classroom tomorrow!

Elementary science teacher Jami Witherell shares her insights on fostering academic discourse in the classroom, emphasizing the importance of giving students time to think before they speak. She discusses practical strategies for engaging students in conversation, including the 'read a little, think a little, chat a little' approach, and the implementation of Socratic seminars and fishbowl discussions. Jami highlights the significance of preparation and creating a safe space for all students, especially multilingual learners, to express their thoughts and ideas. Her personal experiences as a multilingual learner shape her passion for ensuring that every student feels their voice matters in the classroom.

Fourth grade teacher Lauren Proffitt discusses the importance of oracy in education, detailing how her school has implemented a school-wide goal to enhance students' speaking skills. She explains the significance of structured routines and strategies that promote student engagement through talk, emphasizing the role of oracy in both academic and lifelong skills. The discussion also covers peer observations, collaborative learning, and effective management of classroom discussions, providing practical insights for educators.

Resources

• Fail-a-bration by Brad and Kristi Montague

We answer your questions about teaching reading in The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night.

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Episode 167: Researcher Tiffany Hogan explores the relationship between phonics and language comprehension in this episode. She shares practical ways to make these connections in the classrooms - including read-alouds, discourse, and writing.

Resources Mentioned in this Episode

• On the Importance of Listening Comprehension
• If you don't look, you don't see: Measuring language development to inform literacy instruction
• List of commercially available Developmental Language Disorder (DLDP) Screeners
• DLDandme.org
• RADLD.org
• ASHA Voices on Apple Podcasts
• Understanding Dyslexia in the Context of Developmental Language Disorder
• Increasing Higher Level Language Skills to Improve Reading Comprehension
• Adapting Curricula for Children with Language Comprehension Deficits
• Five ways SLPs (and others) can positively impact children with dyslexia
• A generic implementation framework for school-based research and practice
• 'We test, not teach, comprehension' Jeanne Chall:
• CUBED free assessment and progress monitoring for decoding, language, and reading
• Executive functions and morphological awareness explain the shared variance between word reading and listening comprehension Young-Suk Kim
• “the acquisition of an alphabetic code is like catching a virus… this virus infects all speech processing… Language is never the same again” Uta Frith

We answer your questions about teaching reading in The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night.

Grab free resources and episode alerts! Sign up for our email list at literacypodcast.com.

Join our community on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.

Episode 217
Have you ever wondered how to get your students talking in a way that builds deeper understanding? In this episode, we chat with Jeff Zwiers, author of Academic Conversations and Next Steps with Academic Conversations, about the power of authentic discussions in the classroom.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

• 3 Key Features of Authentic Conversations: Building on ideas, clarifying and supporting, and using information gaps to spark curiosity.
• Practical Strategies: How to use routines like Think-Pair-Share to foster meaningful discussions.
• Building a Culture of Communication: Tips for helping students share opinions, argue effectively, and engage deeply.

This episode is packed with actionable ideas to help you create a classroom where every student’s voice matters. Tune in to discover how academic talk can boost participation, agency, and long-term success!

Resources

• Article: Enhancing Instruction with Authentic Communication: 3 Features Conversing to Fortify Literacy, Language, and Learning
• Book: Academic Conversations
• Book: Next Steps with Academic Conversations

We answer your questions about teaching reading in The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night.

Grab free resources and episode alerts! Sign up for our email list at literacypodcast.com.

Join our community on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.