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Understanding Dyslexia: Raising Awareness and Building Support

Understanding Dyslexia: Raising Awareness and Building Support

Key Takeaways from Lexia’s LETRS Applied Inaugural Conference

Key Takeaways from Lexia’s LETRS Applied Inaugural Conference

Guest on the Stellar Teacher Podcast: Evidence-Based Strategies for Building Student Vocabulary

Guest on the Stellar Teacher Podcast: Evidence-Based Strategies for Building Student Vocabulary

Guest on the Route 2 Reading Podcast: Building Background Knowledge

Guest on the Route 2 Reading Podcast: Building Background Knowledge

Guest Blog Post for Campbell Creates Readers: Teaching Phonemic Awareness with Letters

Guest Blog Post for Campbell Creates Readers: Teaching Phonemic Awareness with Letters

What is the Science of Reading?

What is the Science of Reading?

Guest on The Literacy Dive Podcast: Orthographic Mapping – What It Is and  How You Can Use It In Your Reading Instruction 

Guest on The Literacy Dive Podcast: Orthographic Mapping – What It Is and How You Can Use It In Your Reading Instruction 

Guest on the Stellar Teacher Podcast: Understanding Phonological and Phonemic Awareness

Guest on the Stellar Teacher Podcast: Understanding Phonological and Phonemic Awareness

Spelling Long A Vowel Teams like a champ: Is it AI or AY?

Spelling Long A Vowel Teams like a champ: Is it AI or AY?

do-you-know-the-definition-confer-when-it-comes-to-literacy-instruction

Do you know the definition confer when it comes to literacy instruction?

Why Orthographic Mapping is Important when Teaching High Frequency Words

Why Orthographic Mapping is Important when Teaching High Frequency Words

Brightly colored sticky notes with the heading "How to Teach Reading Strategies like a Boss by Implementing Tangible Takeaways"

How to Teach Reading Strategies like a Boss by Implementing Tangible Takeaways

Latest on Instagram

Know better, do better. 🩷 When did you learn a Know better, do better. 🩷

When did you learn about how the brain ACTUALLY learns how to read? (Spoiler alert: it’s not through osmosis!)

#scienceofreading #structuredliteracy #readingbrain
Had a wonderful day on-site supporting teachers in Had a wonderful day on-site supporting teachers in analyzing their data to plan targeted phonics small groups!

Let’s move from data to action! 

@magnoliaconsultinggrouporg 

#structuredliteracy #literacyconsultant #phonics
🤖📚 AI + structured literacy… but done thou 🤖📚 AI + structured literacy… but done thoughtfully.

In Episode 74 of the Literacy in Color Podcast, I sat down with Viv Ramakrishnan from @projectreadai to dig into a question so many educators are asking right now:

👉 Can AI actually support high-quality, structured literacy instruction?

What I appreciated most about this conversation is the nuance.

We talked about:
💚 Why most AI tools (including things like ChatGPT) aren’t built for phonics at a grapheme-phoneme level
💚 How AI, when designed with instructional integrity, can help provide students with the reps they need when time is the real constraint
💚 And how screen time can easily become empty calories… unless it’s intentional, targeted, and purpose-driven

This isn’t about replacing teachers.
It’s about supporting planning and personalization while making an even greater impact!

If you’ve been curious about AI but cautious (rightfully so), this episode will help you think more clearly about when it helps, why it works, and where the guardrails matter most.

Comment AI for a link to listen — and be sure to check out some of the tools Project Read AI has to offer!

#literacyincolorpodcast #projectreadai #podcastforteachers
2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣5️⃣ was a great one (…b 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣5️⃣ was a great one (…but as with anything in life, this is the highlight reel!) 

As I reflect though, I’m filled with so much gratitude. 🙏🏼

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year! 🪩🩶

Here’s to making an even more profound impact in the year ahead! 👏🏼 #untileverychildcanread
🎄 On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love g 🎄 On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… a reminder that English spelling isn’t crazy! 

If you missed last week’s episode before the holiday hustle & bustle, you’ll love this little word study recap explaining the spellings of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa! 

If you’ve ever thought words like “Christmas” don’t follow the rules, remember: 
✨ English is a layered language.
✨ Spelling often reflects history and meaning, not just sound.
✨ When spellings look different, they’re usually telling a story, not making a mistake.

🎧 Comment SPELL for a link to listen to the episode!

Bonus points if you can tell me why <ch> spells /k/ in Christmas! 🩵

#literacyincolorpodcast #literacypodcast #podcastforteachers
✋ Hand up if you used to assign students a “ju ✋ Hand up if you used to assign students a “just right” reading level.

Dr. Jennifer Throndsen offers the perfect metaphor:
If I want to lift 20-lb bicep curls, I’ll never get there by only lifting 15s. Somewhere, somehow — there has to be a stretch. 💪

The same is true for literacy.

If students only ever have access to “just right” texts when they’re reading below benchmark…
👉 how do we actually close the gap?

The answer isn’t easier text.
It’s better scaffolding.

➡️ In the past, we often lowered the text to manage difficulty.
➡️ But equity isn’t easier text — it’s access.
➡️ Our role as educators is to mediate the text, not remove the challenge altogether.

When students consistently engage with rich, grade-level language with intentional scaffolds, they build the knowledge, vocabulary, and confidence they need to grow as readers.

As Jennifer says so powerfully:
“If we really want kids to be able to read more challenging texts, they have to read more challenging texts.”

🎧 Comment SCAFFOLD for the link to Episode 72 of the Literacy in Color Podcast:
Raising Up Readers: Scaffolding Strategies to Help Students Access Challenging Text with @jt_travel32
📘 And don’t miss her new book, published by @solutiontree !

#literacyincolorpodcast #podcastforteachers #literacypodcast
I just can’t get enough of… flip books! Comme I just can’t get enough of… flip books!

Comment FLIP and check them out for yourself!

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