The Reading Instruction Show

This podcast describes strategies for attending to sight words in a meaning-based approach to reading. It ends with an examination of scope and sequence charts.

There are eight terms related to reading instruction that are commonly misunderstood: (1) reading, (2) word recognition, (3) word identification, (4) decoding, (5) a strategy, (6) a skill, (7) system…

Phonics is the ability to associate sounds with letters or letter patterns. Phonics is one of four ways used to identify individual words as we read. The other three are: (a) analogy [word families],…

In viewing online discussion groups and reading various articles related to reading instruction and struggling readers, it is clear that many believe that ‘whole language’ is a bad thing. All well an…

After wide reading, writing is probably the next best thing you can use to help struggling readers. You can often hear beginning and emergent readers sounding out words as they listen to find the cor…

Standardized tests are effective for describing how far students are from a mythical average. They are very ineffective in diagnosing the cause of reading difficulties. This podcast explains.

The teacher is the most significant variable in determining how much learning takes place in any classroom. We must attend to this most significant variable. This occurs through professional develo…

This podcast explains and describes social cognitive learning theory and its applications. Social cognitive learning theory involves observing the behaviors of others and the resulting rewards and p…

This podcast describes efferent and aesthetic responses to text. It explains how we should approach and respond to expository (informational) and narrative text. It also explains why some of the Com…

This podcast describes how our brain creates meaning with text from a cognitive perspective. The information processing model, sometimes called the standard memory model, is used here. It depicts the…

Psychologists Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow are generally thought to be the founders of modern humanistic learning theory (DeCarvalho, 1991). Humanistic learning theory is not as easily defined as …

In this podcast I describe 11 attributes of what I believe to be teacher professionalism. They are based on the perspective I hold as a holistic educator. You will need to identify and define your …

Affect in education usually refer to emotions and motivation. Since these do not show up on test scores, to the educational bureaucracy, they do not exist; however, they are, arguably, the most impo…

Psychometricians, educational psychologists, and the companies that publish standardized have convinced people that learning can be quantified and that the numbers generated on these standardized tes…

Some of the ideas about reading instruction that I have presented in various formats may be at odds with your previous ways of thinking about things. In fact, some of these ideas may directly confli…

If the only tool you have is a hammer all the world becomes a nail. If the only tool you have to teach reading is phonics all the world becomes a phonics worksheet. This podcast describes (a) problem…

The purpose of a shared reading lesson is to enable the whole class to share insights or have a common discussion around a book or text. Here students of varying ability levels interact with concept…