Author Archives: chris

This PDF shows what balanced literacy is supposed to look like in a classroom.  On the surface, these things don’t look awful … but look more closely.  Nowhere is the child told to sound out a word!  That’s the crux … Continue reading →

The answer to that question will take some time. Sorry. Here goes: On the surface, the name Balanced Literacy sounds wonderful, right?  I mean, what could be better than something completely balanced?  We hear about balanced meals, balanced approaches to … Continue reading →

While every student will benefit from a systematic, explicit, intensive literacy program, dyslexic student REQUIRE it!  This is where Structured Literacy comes into play.  Read about it here.  Structured literacy differs greatly from balanced literacy.  The University of Michigan has … Continue reading →

Good instruction can mean many things to different people. Here, and especially this month, we want to talk about the specifics of good instruction as it pertains to reading. Structured Literacy info from the IDA (Spend some time reading this!) … Continue reading →

Components of effective instruction Though written for educators in the state of Tennessee, the PDF here is wonderful!

While this Timeline of Reading Wars has not been updated in years, but it does a good job on the earlier stuff. The Washington Post noticed that the war is back ‘on’ Here’s a podcast about the resurgence of the … Continue reading →

In schools all across America these days, there is something called RTI taking place. RTI means Response to Intervention and it is a way of grouping kids, especially when talking about reading. Tier 1 is all about average readers in … Continue reading →

If getting the testing for dyslexia done wasn’t enough of a struggle, once the test is done, what do you do with the report that is provided? Some of them are not easy to read! Understood has some help, as … Continue reading →

Dyslexic kids usually need explicit, intensive instruction in anything that is language based, study skills are no different. Yesterday, I suggested a course of study in reading comprehension using a science or history textbook. Today, I have a fabulous link … Continue reading →

On my FB page today, I opened the testing and diagnosis conversation. As I was reviewing what I have scheduled for you this week, I found two interesting posts, both from Lexercise: and this page