You Don’t Just ‘Raise’ A Reader, You Have to Teach Kids to Read, Too

When I give presentations about dyslexia, I often illustrate how neurodiversity works by showing a chessboard. Some people can easily see all the patterns of…

How to Help Beginning Readers During the Pandemic

Before the pandemic, many American children struggled to read well. Now, the pandemic has thrown early elementary teachers a curve ball in teaching reading; they…

I Was There When Lucy Calkins Shifted Toward Cognitive Science

In October, national media reported on the remarkable shift toward phonics and away from 3-Cueing now under way for noted reading curriculum leader Lucy Calkins…

Here’s Why Independent Reading Matters in a Pandemic

We’re in the midst of a back-to-school season like no other. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised lots of questions about how to safely and effectively…

The Epidemic We’re Not Talking About: Most High School Seniors Can’t Read or Do Math

The National Assessment for Education Progress (NAEP)—nicknamed “America’s Report Card”—released their 12th grade scores at the end of October.  The horrifying results: Just 37% of 12th-graders reached or…

Books Are Essential Tools to Help Children Manage Grief

With more than 200,000 COVID-related deaths nationwide since March, and with the knowledge from a recent Kaiser Family Foundation study that the COVID infection rates…

COVID Can’t Stop Ms. Gutierrez From Nurturing Her Students’ Love of Reading

Many students are looking to escape the harsh realities of COVID-19. Online learning, social distancing, closure of many businesses and recreation areas, and the struggling…

If You Want Justice, Teach Kids How to Read

In 1990, I was a brand-new teacher in an unusual environment: a Chicago alternative high school where teens and young adults could earn their diplomas…

Leveled Texts Are ‘Exhibit A’ for the Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations

The scene occurs daily in classrooms across the United States. Students, grouped by reading ability, come to the teacher’s table to read their leveled readers—books…

Here’s How Remote Learning Could Help Struggling Readers

While we grapple with the COVID-19 health crisis and the many social ills our country is facing, we cannot overlook the fact that one root…